Happy 75th birthday to a true rock and roll original – Joe Ely (born 2/9/47). Ely is renowned for mixing up ballsy blues guitar with TexMex flavors over the course of fifty-plus years. In 1971, with fellow Lubbock musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he formed The Flatlanders who are still releasing new music. Ely’s edgy influences on guitar, vocals, and songwriting are reflected in most modern Americana artist crowding the clubs of Nashville and Austin. Watch Ely perform live at Austin City Limits in 1979:
