Why Kimmie Rhodes isn't an international country icon on a par with Willie Nelson is beyond me. Certainly she has Nelson's approval - cut the beautiful Just One Love with him - but why isn't this Austin chanteuse with the exquisite voice a household name like Willie? Not being in her sixties with a catalogue stretching from here to El Paso may be part of the reason, and the necessity of this release is probably another. Compiling tunes from three out-of-print albums, Jackalopes, Moons & Angels features three tracks off of Rhodes' 1983 debut, four from its follow-up Man in the Moon in 1985, and five from 1989's Angels Get the Blues. Judging by the quality of songs, graced by the presence of such players as Johnny Gimble on fiddle, Jimmy Day on steel guitar, and Joe Ely on vox - as well as a plethora of others like Butch Hancock, Marcia Ball, Erik Hokkanen, Spencer Starnes, and on and on - only the unavailability of these tunes could keep them from Austinites and country music fans everywhere. "Sweetheart You're a Lot Like Texas" sounds like a Lyle Lovett song waiting to be adored, while the uptown continental elegance of "Man on the Moon" screams Broadway just as "Daddy's Song" whispers a lullaby, and "Angels Get the Blues" could and should be cut by every female country singer from here to Loretta Lynn. On "It'll Do," Rhodes sings, "Ol Butch picks and sings on Saturday night, he throws away better songs than most folks could ever write," and somehow one gets the feeling Butch Hancock isn't the only great songwriter in Austin the rest of the world really doesn't have a clue exists.
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