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By Denis McGinness

The Smithville Times

Grammy-winning blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan has lived in this area for seven years – long enough to be considered a local – so he jumped at the chance to headline the Smithville Music Festival this weekend.

“I’ve been wanting to play around here for a long time,” Vaughan said. “When I heard about the festival it sounded really good to me. It’s a good setting and we’re excited to be playing.”

Vaughan’s band will feature his longtime touring and recording mates, Tilt-A-Whirl band members George Rains on drums and rhythm guitarist Billy Pitman. Ronnie James will play bass and the horn section features former Roomful of Blues bandleader Greg Piccolo, blues great Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff and award-winning composer and bandleader Ephraim Owens. The incomparable Lou Ann Barton, one of the finest roadhouse blues singers anywhere, will join the band, completing a line up of some of the genres finest talent.

Vaughan got his start in music while recovering from a football injury at the age of 13 when a family friend gave him a guitar to occupy his recovery time. He was a natural from the start and absorbed styles from the music around his home and on the radio.

“As a little kid in Dallas there was some great stuff on the radio and all kinds of stuff was being played at home. I listened to Bob Wills and other country greats,” Vaughan said. “A lot of hillbillies, and I say that lovingly, played stuff by Jimmy Reed, so you heard this great mix of styles. It was about great music.”

At 15, Vaughan started his first band. At 16 he joined The Chessman, a popular Dallas area group that opened several concerts for Jimi Hendrix. After seeing Muddy Waters and Freddie King play, he connected with the blues.

“As soon as I heard it, I was hooked,” Vaughan said. The guitarist went on to found The Fabulous Thunderbirds, which became the house band at the famed Austin blues club, Antone’s. Many blues greats came through town to play the famous club and Vaughan found himself sharing the stage with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King and Albert King. Many recognized Vaughan as someone who could keep the music alive for future generations.

Vaughan had a tremendous influence on his brother Stevie Ray Vaughan, a Grammy-winning guitarist who tragically died in 1990 in a helicopter crash at the height of his fame. Stevie credited his older brother as his biggest inspiration and influence.

Vaughan has been working on material and has enough for an album, maybe more, and he’s working on finding the right musicians to fit the different styles. If things work out, he’s hoping for a release this spring.

Vaughan is a well-known designer and collector of classic custom cars. His everyday ride right now is a 1954 Ford Victoria and a 1932 Ford 5-window. He says, jokingly, that’s what’s been in and out of the garage lately.

“I hang out with my twin girls a lot, they’re five. And I play guitar every day,” Vaughan said, “I’m looking forward to playing in Smithville, and getting to see everybody.”

The Smithville Music Festival is all day, Saturday, November 7 at Riverbend Park in Smithville. Tickets are $15 dollars in advance and $20 at the door. Joining Vaughan will be Dale Watson, Hannibal Lokumbe, the Jones Family Singers, the Black, the Peterson Brothers and others. See www.smithvillemusicfestival.org/ for more information.