Austin and Alt-Country Songwriter and Guitarist Jon Dee Graham Dies
Every week, tourists and music fans fly into the Live Music Capital of the World for the opportunity to see some of the most renown musicians in the world holding court in weekly residencies that are simply part of the regular rhythms of Austin, Texas. You walk into a relatively intimate club like The Continental Club or the Saxon Pub, and there is Dale Watson, or James McMurtry, or the one and only Jon Dee Graham there in the flesh, holding court to an attentive audience.
People love to talk about the unique mix of “hippies and cowboys” who came together at places like Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters to seed the city’s robust music scene. But in the late ’70s and the early ’80s, it was the rednecks and the punks who would come together for a new, unique sound that would reshape American music. Right in the middle of that mix was Austin native Jon Dee Graham.
The Skunks were one of Austin’s first true punk bands, drawing influences from The Who and the New York Dolls, blasting onto the scene in 1978 via venues like Raul’s, The Armadillo, and The Continental. It was when Jon Dee Gram replaced original guitarist “Fazz” Eddie Munoz that The Skunks really found their groove. They became the first real punk band from Austin to tour nationally, including opening for folks like The Police, The Ramones, and The Clash.
But after The Skunks imploded as punk bands are apt to do, Jon Dee Graham landed on his feet with a couple of brothers named Alejandro and Javier who were making a little punk racket of their own in a band called True Believers. Alejandro Escovedo had played in an early punk band called The Nuns, and eventually would become one of the most important and influential individuals in the formation of alt-country.
But before that and with Jon Dee Graham by his side, True Believers would be one of the very first bands to mesh punk, rock, and country in what became known as cowpunk, and later inform alt-country. The True Believers never minted any Gold records or sold out major venues. But their underground status and wicked influence among peers was beyond legendary, lending to both Escovido’s and Graham’s near deity status among die hard fans and peers.
Joe Dee Graham was known almost strictly as a guitar player at this time. It was his attack and abandon, but mindfulness to the song that made him the envy of many peers in rival projects. The True Believers were active between 1982 and 1987, releasing a self-titled album via Rounder Records in 1986. The band fell apart after Alejandro’s brother Javier left.
The line formed to the left of people looking to exploit the guitar playing of Jon Dee Graham, both on electric, and the lap steel, which could give his sound a distinct twang or bluesy hue. Ry Cooder, John Doe of X, later The Gourds, Kevin Russell solo, Kelly Willis, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and so many more solicited the services of Graham the guitar player in the studio, while James McMurtry, Eliza Gilkyson and Patty Griffin did so live too, all while an entire career from Jon Dee Graham the songwriter and performer was waiting in the wings.
Similar to Graham’s pioneering mix of punk, rock, and country influences in his playing, he’s often cited as being a pioneer of the type of involved narrative songwriting that became his signature. He released his first solo album called Escape From Monster Island in 1997. Signing to New West Records in 1999, he would go on to release Summerland (1999), Hooray For the Moon (2002), and The Great Battle (2004) produced by Charlie Sexton. It was during this period that Graham became a strong part of the emerging Americana scene with so many of the contemporaries he’d performed with and influenced over the years.
Like so many of the Austin, TX-based music legends, the legacy of Jon Dee Graham became to accumulate so much girth and inertia, it was like seeing a superstar for his dedicated fans, even if he was nowhere near a household name. That wasn’t important though. Those that knew, they knew. Even better if his appeal wasn’t spoiled by mass consumption. That’s what allowed you to saunter into the Saxon or Continental Club to see him hold court with others in the crowd who knew and appreciated they were witnessing.
Just as well-regarded as his musical legacy was, Jon Dee Graham was equally known for his kindness, his selflessness, and his sense of humor. In an industry of egos, Jon Dee Graham was hard to hate and easy to work with. His relative obscurity to the outside world never bred resentment. It kept him humble, and grateful for what he had.
All of these attributes are the reason Jon Dee Graham was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame not once, not twice, but three times, for being a member of The Skunks, a member of the True Believers, and as a solo artist.
His unexpected death on March 27th at the age of 67 leaves a Jon Dee Graham-sized hole in the dead center of Austin, TX and alt-country music that will be impossible to plug. This isn’t just a pothole to avoid. It’s one to fall into, take a look around and explore, and understand that without the underworkings of a guy like Jon Dee Graham, the whole alt-country thing might have never happened, or fallen apart with a whimper.
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