Stephen Bruton passed away Saturday morning in Los Angeles after a long fight with cancer.
He leaves a legacy as both a singer and songwriter, but also a bit of a renaissance man in the music industry.
"He was a musician, a mentor, a gentleman, a producer, a true Texas gentleman," News 8's Music Correspondent Andy Langer said. "He was a guy who grew up in Fort Worth, grew up in a record shop and immediately recognized music as his calling."
Bruton is regarded as one of Austin's best guitarists and he played a role in a lot other local performers’ success as well.
The musician and music producer worked with artists like Alejandro Escovedo, Marcia Ball, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Hal Ketchum, Storyville, Chris Smither and Bonnie Raitt.
"He would give to them, they would give back to him, and there was a lot of give and take there," Langer said.
He was also a good a friend of Kris Kristofferson, the singer-songwriter who produced big hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee."
Langer said Bruton spent 40 years, on and off, playing with Kristofferson. In fact, the last thing Bruton worked on was a Kristofferson record.
"He was just, genuinely, one of those guys who was a guitar player's guitar player, a producer's producer, a songwriter" Langer said. "He was genuinely, sort of, a last of breed; one of those guys who had his hand in a little bit of everything and was really good at everything he did."
Bruton was also a regular Sunday night performer at the Saxon Pub with The Resentments.
He also had a lengthy film career with his most recent role in "Man Of The House" with Tommy Lee Jones.
He was 60 years old. Services for his memorial are still to be announced.