Written by Avery Armstrong of the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University
This Week in Texas Music History, a singing cowgirl and country music trailblazer is born in South Texas.
Kathy Dell was born on July 9, 1932, in Cuero—a crossroads town of the Coastal Bend that nurtured interesting musical experiences in Dell’s early years. The town’s first commercial radio station (KCFH) arrived on the scene in 1949, Dell’s senior year of high school, and she helped launch it with her own daily program. Dell encouraged early disc jockeys to introduce her as “The Sweet Sixteen Singing Sweetheart of KCFH.” Her show was a local hit, complete with yodeling and her own rendition of Patsy Montana’s “I Wanna Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” a song that would go on to be her trademark anthem.
Alongside her music, Dell competed in rodeos, becoming well-known on the All-Girls Pro-Rodeo circuit by the early 1950s. While riding competitively and traveling in rodeo exhibitions as far afield as Cuba and Panama, she simultaneously crafted her “singing cowgirl” persona on local radio. In 1954, she moved to Austin and fronted a band called the Colorado River Boys, singing and playing guitar at popular country venues in the city such as the Skyline Club and the Split Rail. Over the next 40 years, Dell put together an eclectic performance repertoire, ranging from classic country to pop songs of the day, a strategy that secured gigs sometimes six nights a week. In contrast to other women country artists of her day, Dell managed all parts of her career on her own; she was completely and confidently self-made at a time when it was expected for women artists to defer to male managers and producers.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dell was asked to join country bands across the state, such as the Country Kings and the Cherokee Cowboys – Ray Price’s former band. She formed a new group in 1976 called Rawhide – playing on the English translation of cuero – and began to incorporate elements of Tejano music into her performances. A successful and prolific gigging musician, Kathy Dell exhibited a pioneering spirit and unconventional accomplishments in a male-dominated field throughout her career.
Patsy Montana, “I Wanna Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”
Sources:
Brown, Mel. “A ‘Cowboy’s Sweetheart’” Kathy Dell’s Musical Career in the Crossroads Region of South Texas.” Journal of Texas Music History 7, no 1. 2007.
