Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa - Visit Lost Pines

Inspirations

Kenneth Threadgill

When Burton Wilson took a photograph of Kenneth Threadgill back in 1972 at a small beer joint just west of the UT campus, Threadgill was one of the most "well-credentialed" entertainers in Austin. As a young man, he met his idol, Jimmy Rodgers, while working at a theater in Beaumont where "the Singing Brakeman" were performing. Jimmy heard Threadgill imitating his yodeling style backstage and encouraged the lad to press ahead with a singing career. Given such encouragement, he moved to Austin, Got a job, bought the service station where he worked on North Lamar and reinvented it as a self-named-gas-pumping-music-friendly tavern after the repeal of prohibition in 1933. Kenneth's yodels echoed throughout the community (as well as his beer specials, two Lone Stars for a quarter!), and he soon had quite a scene percolating in North Austin.

 Kenneth and his "salon" made an enduring mark on American popular music in the late 1960s. Although he had his own band-the Hootenanny Hoots-that drew well on the weekends, Kenneth made pickers of all Stripes feel welcome during the week, and Wednesday nights evolved into a song-swapping soiree for the "folk-niks" and musical bohemians from The University of Texas. A rebellious young student and aspiring folk singer from Port Arthur, Janis Joplin, not only found her voice, acceptance and confidence on that impromptu mid-week stage, she also found a life-long friend, mentor and father figure in Kenneth.

 Kenneth went on to become a mainstay at the early Kerrville Folk Festivals during the 1970s, released a well-received album, Silver-Haired Daddy, in 1981, and made his acting debut in a movie with Willie Nelson, Honeysuckle Rose, and recorded two cuts for the movie soundtrack album-"singing the Yodeling Blues" and "Coming Back to Texas"-that sold over 2 million copies.