Various Artists - Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute Walter Hyatt (Various Artists) (CD)

First CD release of material from the star-studded 1997 PBS broadcast including six previously unissued tracks recorded at the show and four Hyatt solo recordings. Uncle Walt's Band (David Ball, Champ Hood, and Walter Hyatt) were one of the most popular acts in Austin, Texas, even though they were originally from South Carolina. Their excellent songwriting, playing, and singing garnered them local fans, but also Texas luminaries like Willis Alan Ramsey (in a very rare appearance), Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and (then Texas A&M student) Lyle Lovett. After a few self-released albums and cassettes (all available again via Omnivore Recordings), the band went their separate ways, with Hyatt going to Nashville with his wife, Heidi. In 1990, Lovett produced Hyatt's major label debut, King Tears, and went on the road with Walter as his opening act. Three years later, Hyatt released Music Town. Then, sadly, he died in the 1996 ValueJet plane crash that took the lives of all passengers and crew. Lovett helped organize tribute concerts to benefit Hyatt's wife and children. In 1997, Austin City Limits broadcast one of those tributes featuring friends and fans including Lovett, Ramsey, Gilmore, Junior Brown, Marcia Ball, Allison Moorer, David Halley, Shawn Colvin, and his Uncle Walt's Band partners, Ball and Hood. Now, nearly 25 years later, the eleven songs from that original broadcast are available for the first time as Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute To Walter Hyatt. They are joined by six tracks recorded for, but not shown on Austin City Limits. To make this collection even more special, four previously unissued Hyatt recordings make their debut. The packaging features photos and a new essay from North Carolina author and musician Thomas Goldsmith. It truly is Mighty Fine.