Songwriter,
musician, singer Champ Hood, 49, dies of cancer
By CRAIG HAVIGHURST
Respected singer,
songwriter and musician Champ Hood succumbed to cancer
yesterday at his
home in the hills outside Austin, Texas. Mr. Hood, 49,
worked with numerous
Nashville musicians over 30 years. Mr. Hood's three-octave vocal
range and mastery
of a dozen instrumental styles, "from Brazilian to blues to bluegrass,”
made him an ideal
backing musician and earned him membership in the Texas Music Hall
of Fame. He played
guitar and fiddle with nationally known artists such as Lyle Lovett,
Kelly Willis and
Willis Alan Ramsey.
He appeared in live
performances and on two independent releases as leader of
a freewheeling acoustic
band first known as the Threadgill Troubadours and
then as Champ Hood
and the Troubadours. Recently Mr. Hood was a fixture in
Austin vocalist
Toni Price's band. He also had been working on his first solo
album.
Mr. Hood went to
Austin from Nashville in 1973 as a member of Uncle Walt's
Band, an acoustic
trio that included Walter Hyatt and David Ball. Hyatt died
in the 1996 ValuJet
crash in Florida. Ball is enjoying a revival on country
radio.
Mr. Hood's finely
crafted original songs were featured in recordings and
performances by
Uncle Walt's Band, as well as by the Contenders, a 1970s
folk-rock band that
included Hyatt, North Carolinians Tommy Goldsmith (now The
Tennessean's city
editor) and Steve Runkle and drummer Jimbeau Walsh. Mr.
Hood also performed
and recorded with artists such as Nashville songwriters
Linda Hargrove and
Guy Clark, country star Steve Wariner and Texas stalwarts
Gary P. Nunn and
Rusty Wier.
Mr. Hood's highest
national profile may have come in 1990s appearances with
Lovett, whom he
accompanied on recordings and on tours. Lovett became a fan
of Uncle Walt's
Band while at Texas A&M.
Born Aug. 16, 1952,
in Spartanburg, S.C., Mr. Carroll DesChamps Hood attended
schools and junior
college there before heading to Nashville with Hyatt and
Ball in the 1970s.
''His last year of high school, we played together as a duo in a restaurant
called Italian Village,''
Hyatt said in 1991. ''Champ was always really good.
He used to actively
keep up with what was hip and new.''
In addition to Mr.
Hood's expertise, he will be remembered for his good
looks, wry humor
and generosity of spirit; he appeared at countless benefits
and lent his talent
to all manner of performers.
A 1997 Austin American-Statesman
interview with Mr. Hood reveals his
self-deprecating
humor and the range of work he accepted. Reporter Rob
Patterson asked
Mr. Hood for his ''keys to success.''
''Am I successful?''
Mr. Hood said. ''I guess my advice is to be flexible and
have a good base
of musical knowledge. Don't expect things to go your way,
and don't expect
to get paid sometimes, but hold out for what you think you
are worth. Remember
that it takes awhile to get established. And be on time.''
Mr. Hood is survived
by his son, Warren, an increasingly well-known Austin
musician, and by
a brother, Robin, of Spartanburg, S.C. A service in Austin
is set for next
Sunday.
Staff
Writer Tommy Goldsmith contributed to this report.