Album Of The Week

"Kimmie Rhodes kom med sin 1:a skiva redan 1981 och har hunnit passera 70. Att det är en mer än rutinerad artist som nu kommer med 18 låtar, en mer än nödvändig blandning av nya remixar på ett studioalbum från 1996 och ett gäng bonus-låtar, bland annat oumbärliga 'Send Me The Sun' med Emmylou Harris och Beth Nielsen Chapman, som kanske är det vackraste som jag kan ha hört på länge. Det här är musik med nästan 30 år på nacken, och en slags lyckad återvinning, som framför allt visar att tidlös musik står sig hur länge som helst."

- Torbjörn Berlin / Berlin Calling -

"Undertecknad kan inflika att Kimmie Rhodes album i denna nya utgåva förblir lika fantastiskt som vid det första mötet med skivan 1995."

- Micheles Kindh / Blaskan -

"När 'West Texas Heaven' kom ut 1996 blev plattan hyllad av såväl kritiker, publik, som av andra stora country-artister såsom Rodney Crowell och Emmylou Harris. Crowell sade att Rhodes har en poets själ och en ängels röst, och bland bonus-materialet här, på en låt som heter 'Send Me The Sun', sjunger faktiskt Emmylou Harris tillsammans med Beth Nielsen Chapman och Kimmie Rhodes. Inte nog med det. På den här plattan gästar även Willie Nelson i låtarna 'Hard Promises To Keep' och *I Never Heard You Say', samt legendariska Waylon Jennings som gör två spår ihop med Rhodes, nämligen, ”Maybe We´ll Just Disappear” och ”Be Mine”. Jennings avled 2002, men här var han fortfarande närvarande med sin mörka, trygga och så lätt igenkänningsbara röst. Även Townes Van Zandt som dog ett år efter att 'West Texas Heaven' spelades in, medverkar med sång på låten ” I'm Gonna Fly”. Men detta är Kimmie Rhodes platta. Det är hon som har skrivit i stort sett alla låtar på den, oftast ensam, men ibland tillsammans med ett par andra. Det är hon som sjunger så fint, likaså har hon producerat albumet tillsammans med Joe Gracey. Undantaget är ”Send Me The Sun”, producerad av sonen och multi-instrumentalisten Gabriel Rhodes. Kimmie Rhodes har hela 16 soloalbum på sitt samvete, hon har skrivit och producerat tre musikaler, och den här plattan har utnämnts till årets bästa av många världen över, inklusive USA Today. Tycker du om Dolly Partons och Emmylou Harris röster och stil på countrymusik så lär 'West Texas Heaven Revisited' sitta som en smäck i CD-spelaren."

- Robert Ryttman / Zero Magazine -

"Kimmie Rhodes is re-releasing her classic album album, which has been remixed and remastered, along with some rare bonus outtake tracks from the original sessions, and a since recorded duet with Emmylou Harris and Beth Nielsen Chapman that she says, 'fits the spirit of the album'."

- Kenneth Bremer / Blue Desert -

"This is a very welcome re-release of an album whose timeless quality has remained intact over the years since its original debut back in 1996. 29 years later and the original 12 songs still maintain a warm reflection on what life was like for an aspiring young talent, with Kimmie’s sweetly gentle vocal so prominent in the production. The arrival on the music scene of this new talent was given real gravitas by the appearance of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely and Townes Van Zandt on the recording. As a veritable who’s who of Texan music legends, Kimmie could not have happened upon a more influential quartet to announce her arrival."

- Paul McGee / Lonesome Highway -

"This is a rather cool 1996 collection from Texas born Kimmie Rhodes with some songs featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely, Emmylou Harris, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Townes van Zandt. Some songs are pulled generously from a box in the attic and have been remixed and remastered. Worth listening to again for sure. They’re not drenched in country-isms but do possess the faithful pedal steel and other country-inspired instruments and voices."

- John Apice / Americana Highways -

"It's been 30 years since Kimmie Rhodes released 'West Texas Heaven'. Up to that point she hadn't quite broken through to the mainstream, very much more Texas than Nashville. If anything, she'd won more of a following in Britain than in the US. There's little doubt that this was the album that propelled her into more firmly into the spotlight, and won her a whole legion of fans. 3 decades on Rhodes has decided to remix and remaster the songs, plus give us some outtakes, an alternative version of 'Wild Roses', and a couple of tracks that weren't on the original album. As you'd expect from a remaster, this revisit sounds superb. Rhodes vocals sound crystal clear, and really make a big impression from the 1st play. She shows an impressive range throughout too, with no 2 vocal performances sounding the same. 'Wild Roses' and 'Just To Be Near You' are together on the album, but sound almost like they've been sung by different people."

- Mike Davies / Fatea Magazine -

"One of the bonus tracks from her upcoming 'West Texas Heaven Revisited' album revisiting the 1996 original, Kimmie Rhodes is joined by Emmylou Harris and Beth Nielsen Chapman on harmonies for the gently aching ‘Send Me The Sun’, a self described americana blues written as a prayer during a run of bad luck and seeking for signs of a brighter tomorrow."

- Mike Davies / Folking -

"In 1996, Kimmie Rhodes released a great album with 'West Texas Heaven' and cemented her reputation as an important singer songwriter. A damn strong and impressive album that the artist presented at the time, 1st with 12 songs, then with 13 and now with 18. Yes, with this record Kimmie Rhodes has succeeded in creating a wonderful piece of music, very beautiful in expression, a little dreamy music and radiating a lot of emotion."

- Wolfgang Giese / Musik An Sich -

"The policy of this reissue is somewhat confusing, some tracks already appeared on earlier versions, others are new or reworked. For the collector and metadata curator requires precision, but musically, it's a enrichment. Who is this album interesting for? For lovers of classic americana with literary depth, and for whom the Texan tradition wants to relive with a modern timbre. 'West Texas Heaven Revisited' is a tribute to the past, without nostalgic, an album that honors its roots and at the same time blooms again."

- Fred Pach / Muziekwereld -

"The crystal clear voice of country legend Kimmie Rhodes and her own beautiful compositions are a true gift to all her fans and to all admirers of great songs and excellent vocal performances. 30 years after its original release she has now launched a remixed and remastered updated version of her album 'West Texas Heaven', now additionally titled ‘Revisited’. On top of the 12 songs on the original album, there are now 6 bonus tracks that she releases for the 1st time."

- Valére Sampermans / Rootstime -

"An album that's rightly brought in to the light after many years, and accompanied in the release by a songbook where photos, memories, chords and much more recall a beautiful page of country music made in Texas."

- Remo Ricaldone / Planet Country -

"Texan, raised in Lubbock, where she began her career, and since the late 70's she now lives in Austin, when she began to record professionally with the Jackalope Brothers, Kimmie Rhodes is a name that, for those who frequent the best tradition of Texan country songwriting, she won't be completely unknown. Yet, compared to other colleagues stylistically, I think of Nanci Griffith, Iris DeMent or even Emmylou Harris, Kimmie has often remained in the background, perhaps because the other choosed at the time to take the flight to Nashville."

- David Albini / Roots Highway -