Although Mel Tillis (“Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town”) has been a country music legend for almost five legends, he was just inducted into the Grand Ole Opry last month.
His daughter Pam Tillis, the singer whose songwriting has always been singled out as some of the best in Nashville, was the one who officially inducted him.
“It was just one of those moments you will always remember,” said Pam Tillis. “There was never a reason he wasn’t a member except that he was always on the road, always busy.”
Perhaps a bit of late blooming runs in the Tillis family. Pam has been in the music business since age 8 when she and her dad made their Opry debuts together, singing “Tom Dooley,” at the Ryman Theatre. Now her latest album, “Rhinestoned,” is being heralded as among her best work. That’s saying something for an artist whose awards include a Grammy and designation as Country Music Association “Female Vocalist of the Year.”
“It was just a very relaxed process,” said Tillis. “I really can’t think of the best way to explain the sound and the style of the record?.but the general concept is making very timeless sounds.”
A fan of the music of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, said that she looked to incorporate some of that musical feel into this album while exploring issues in her life.
“I can only speak to me, I have to make an honest record and sing songs that are coming from me and my life,” said Tillis.
Some of these songs have been in Tillis’ metaphorical back pocket for years, relegated to occasional set lists but never recorded. Record executives preferred to see Tillis record songs that fit easily into contemporary formulas.
“They don’t like them because they don’t sound like everything else being recorded,” said Pam Tillis. “But when I do [those songs] live, people love them, they blow them away.”
IF YOU GO
Pam Tillis
Rams Head Tavern
33 West Street, Annapolis
4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $39.50
Information: 410-268-4545
