Bill Text: TX HR63 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled

Texas House Resolution 63 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Honoring Kerrville Folk Festival founder Rod Kennedy on his birthday.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Passed) 2011-04-14 - Reported enrolled [HR63 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HR63-Enrolled.html



	H.R. No. 63



	R E S O L U T I O N

	WHEREAS, The birthday of Rod Kennedy provides a welcome

	opportunity to sing the praises of this extraordinary man; and

	WHEREAS, While still a teenager, Mr. Kennedy entered the

	entertainment industry as a vocalist with the Bill Creighton

	Orchestra in Buffalo, New York; a live radio variety show in Albany

	soon hired him as a singer and cohost, and he gained further

	experience as the host of a jazz program in Boston before joining

	the U.S. Marines and deploying to Korea; and

	WHEREAS, Mr. Kennedy later enrolled at The University of

	Texas at Austin and assisted in establishing its radio station,

	KUT; he served as the original manager of KAZZ-FM and became the

	owner of Austin station KHFI-FM, which helped numerous Austin folk

	artists reach a wider audience over the airwaves and at its summer

	concerts in Zilker Park; and

	WHEREAS, Mr. Kennedy demonstrated a deep commitment to his

	community and to the arts, serving as a director of the Austin

	Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Ballet Society, the Austin Civic

	Theater, and the Austin Aqua Festival; moreover, he coproduced the

	Longhorn Jazz Festival, which brought such giants as Miles Davis,

	Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie to the Lone Star State;

	playing an increasingly important role in developing the Austin

	singer-songwriter scene, he opened the Chequered Flag nightclub, a

	notable showcase for emerging artists, among them future icons

	Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker; and

	WHEREAS, In 1972, Mr. Kennedy founded the Kerrville Folk

	Festival; it grew to become one of the nation's most popular live

	music events and helped launch the careers of Lyle Lovett, Robert

	Earl Keen, the Dixie Chicks, Lucinda Williams, and a host of other

	singer-songwriters; Mr. Kennedy also created the Kerrville Music

	Foundation to support educational services and sponsor a

	competition for beginning songwriters; while guiding the festival

	for some three decades, he produced more than 30 albums documenting

	performances there, as well as the Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

	and a variety of concerts across the United States and in Mexico;

	and

	WHEREAS, Mr. Kennedy retired from the folk festival in 2002

	but continued to serve as a consultant to its organizers and to

	promoters around the country; in addition, he produced the "Music

	from Kerrville" concert in The Woodlands in 2007 along with 24 major

	events for his nonprofit organization, the Kerrville Special Events

	Association; Mr. Kennedy's production credits over the past six

	decades number more than 1,500, and the list of artists he has

	worked with reads like an encyclopedia of contemporary American

	music; the many honors accorded this industry luminary through the

	years include the Armstrong Foundation Award for FM Broadcasting

	Excellence from Columbia University and a Lifetime Achievement

	Award from the World Folk Music Association; and

	WHEREAS, Although it is impossible to gauge the full effect

	Rod Kennedy has had on Texas music, it is clear that the best way to

	celebrate his still-evolving legacy is to continue to enjoy and

	support the rich creativity he has nurtured; now, therefore, be it

	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas

	Legislature hereby commend Rod Kennedy for his enormous

	contributions to music in the Lone Star State and beyond and extend

	to him sincere best wishes for a very happy birthday; and, be it

	further

	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be

	prepared for Mr. Kennedy as an expression of high regard by the

	Texas House of Representatives.

	Hilderbran

	______________________________
	Speaker of the House

	I certify that H.R. No. 63 was adopted by the House on April
	7, 2011, by a non-record vote.

	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House