Katie Robertson and Jennifer Rux wrote a song that blew me away recently, prompting me to write a cover story for Fort Worth Weekly on why listeners become so moved by certain pieces of music (“Anatomy of a Musical Meltdown,” Dec. 31, 2019). I asked Katie which songs have created musical meltdowns for her and was shocked when the second song she mentioned was “Husbands and Wives.” Roger Miller, the king of the silly ditties, released this uncharacteristically somber tune more than 50 years ago. I heard it for the first time as a teenager and found it so sad and beautiful that I learned it on guitar and have performed it ever since. Hearing that Katie felt the same way about this obscure country song made me want to sing it with her on Toast & Jam. And as the theme song states, “we do it because we can.” Katie has a wonderful voice and is among my favorite local musicians, whether she’s playing piano and singing with one of her bands (Chucho, genini, Hot Knife), sitting in with Big Mike or other local acts as a hired gun, or doing a solo gig at a happy hour somewhere. She comes from a musical family and knows a boatload of songs crossing many generations and genres. Katie is the real deal, as her lifestyle reflects. She shares a rent house with a bunch of other players, jams all over town for short pay, and works part-time at Ephemera Terrariums and Panther City Vinyl. On today’s show, we have a blast hanging out at the record store, browsing through old vinyl, and dusting off that heartrending Roger Miller song that touched each of us so deeply at some point in our lives. If you want to see Katie in action, genini performs February 15 at Shipping & Receiving. Thanks for being on the show, Katie! You killed it as always! — Jeff Prince
