November 22, 20241 yr Popular Post Any Austin music fan in the 90s knew of Toni's music, and many of you probably crossed paths with me at a random Tuesday "Hippie Hour" where she would throw down with Casper, Scrappy Jud, Rich and others. She has passed away from complications related to a brain aneurysm. Fair sailing, Toni, your lovely voice and songs brought a lot of happiness to so many people.
November 23, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said: Any Austin music fan in the 90s knew of Toni's music, and many of you probably crossed paths with me at a random Tuesday "Hippie Hour" where she would throw down with Casper, Scrappy Jud, Rich and others. She has passed away from complications related to a brain aneurysm. Fair sailing, Toni, your lovely voice and songs brought a lot of happiness to so many people. Shit. That's the same thing that happened to Laura Branigan actually.
November 23, 20241 yr Author One of my favorite recording sessions I've ever worked on was when she and Champ Hood rolled into my little studio just south of Continental Club after a Hippie Hour, ostensibly to lay down some backing tracks on a record I was engineering. They were buzzed, to put it kindly. It took a while, but it was so much fun, as they were both charming and super talented. I had never met either of them but they treated me like an old friend. Smart, gifted, generous people.
November 23, 20241 yr Damn we were talking about going to see her play again just the other day. Came here to post. I revived her Midnight Pumpkin album about a month ago into the current music rotation at our house. She was really really good and to me the epitome of Austin music before it went corporate and national. I remember taking out of town guests to the Continental club and them always responding with “wow she’s amazing…” back then it seemed our best artists never really broke through but we’re still just fucking great. Hey day of Guy Forsyth, Toni, Bob Schneider, come to mind. Like the best kept secrets.
November 23, 20241 yr Author Toni, Champ, Scrappy Jud and Casper on Austin City Limits (Shelby Lynne up first, but hopefully the video launches ~ 29:00-ish):
November 23, 20241 yr Listening to tumbleweed right now. Such a great song. Yeah I know, that’s the way it always goes… oh, tumbleweed… sigh… Edited November 23, 20241 yr by troph
November 24, 20241 yr 7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: Toni, Champ, Scrappy Jud and Casper on Austin City Limits (Shelby Lynne up first, but hopefully the video launches ~ 29:00-ish): There’s not a bad song on that album.
November 24, 20241 yr Author Troy Campbell (Loose Diamonds) posted this to his Facebook page. Toni sounds absolutely lovely, and as natural as a singer can get.
November 25, 20241 yr Singer Toni Price, a Mainstay on Austin Stages, Has Died: Austin Music Hall of Famer passes away following a brain aneurysm - Music - The Austin Chronicle Juke Joint Madonna: The Real Toni Price - Music - The Austin Chronicle
November 25, 20241 yr Author Quote and stopped reading the paper when former staffer Ken Lieck's "Dancing About Architecture" column joked about her friends Kelly Willis and Buck Owens. @HenryJames do you know what this reference is about? I can't find it. I played in a few bands with Ken, he's an interesting dude. Very, very smart and very much encamped in left field.
November 26, 20241 yr and stopped reading the paper when former staffer Ken Lieck's "Dancing About Architecture" column joked about her friends Kelly Willis and Buck Owens. [mention=14]HenryJames[/mention] do you know what this reference is about? I can't find it. I played in a few bands with Ken, he's an interesting dude. Very, very smart and very much encamped in left field.Apparently, in fall of 95, he made some joke about Buck Owens. People complained. He wrote that Kelly got his joke which apparently want true. Toni wrote him a letter. I found the fallout, just not the so called joke. I asked Kelly about it. She said, "I remember that. She got more angry than I did! I felt loved."
November 27, 20241 yr Great post from Robyn. And check out her guitar player. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC4SrNQJNRS/?igsh=MWZ3dG54ZWVwODUzOQ==
November 27, 20241 yr Author 25 minutes ago, hullabelew said: Great post from Robyn. And check out her guitar player. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC4SrNQJNRS/?igsh=MWZ3dG54ZWVwODUzOQ== Rich's post from Facebook: Quote I can’t believe Toni’s gone. My heart is breaking. Things were going so nicely for her. We had a wonderful duo up and running between us; she loved doing our regular shows at The Devil’s Backbone Tavern; she’d found an old box of videotapes that I was digitizing for her daughter Amber to post on a YouTube channel; she was ready to start shooting videos of our shows for the channel; she was even looking into booking some festivals and getting out into the world. Then this. I’m in bits. Toni Price was all about real music, and that was pretty much it. (Well, some Jack Daniels for a while, but that eased off after the pandemic.) It seemed that all she wanted was to move and be moved by real, true music. I tried to play my best for her and she seemed to appreciate it, which was a real honor. Her favorite thing was being up in front of a happy, smiling, appreciative crowd. She’d appreciate them right back, especially in the last couple of years that we played together. And now it’s done. I can’t believe it. My heart is breaking. I love you, Toni. (Before I go, I want to give an enormous hug to Cindy White, who was Toni’s guardian angel for years. Fame and fortune are not mutually inclusive in our musical world, and Cindy took amazing care of Toni through ups and downs over the years. If you see Cindy, give her a hug for Toni and me.) Edited November 27, 20241 yr by jimmyjazz
November 27, 20241 yr Holy fuck. I'm in tears. I hope Robyn and Lunchmeat recorded some of those shows with Rich and Toni.
November 28, 20241 yr Author 1 hour ago, hullabelew said: Holy fuck. I'm in tears. I hope Robyn and Lunchmeat recorded some of those shows with Rich and Toni. What a crazy thing for Rich to say, but I get it: "I tried to play my best for her". I'm not sure I've ever been around a better musician.
November 28, 20241 yr 19 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: What a crazy thing for Rich to say, but I get it: "I tried to play my best for her". I'm not sure I've ever been around a better musician. Says a ton about humble he is and how much respect the had for Toni. I've only talked to him a couple of times, but seemed to be extremely sincere and a great guy. Our longest talk was him telling me the story about his cut up strat.
November 28, 20241 yr Author 29 minutes ago, hullabelew said: Says a ton about humble he is and how much respect the had for Toni. I've only talked to him a couple of times, but seemed to be extremely sincere and a great guy. Our longest talk was him telling me the story about his cut up strat. He's probably one of the few Austin musical luminaries who actually has a degree in music. I've recorded one other who has a super high profile gig and that guy couldn't conceive a part. I tried to chart it out for him in my admittedly pedestrian manner, and that didn't help much either. Rich is the real deal, though. And yes, humble but confident, and kind.
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