Rita Ballou

Rita Ballou took the Texas/Red Dirt music scene by storm in 2010 with her controversial website RawhideandVelvet.com. She’s been described as the “Perez Hilton of Texas Country Music,” and love her or hate her, she is always entertaining. Her snarky-but-fresh take on country music, celebrities, reality television and all things pop culture quickly became a must-read for over 50,000 music fans a month and one of the most respected sources for Texas/Red Dirt news. But when radio came calling, Ballou turned her attention to some of the biggest stations in Texas. In 2012, Ballou started her career as on-air talent at Shooter FM in Waco, but she soon took on the coveted afternoon drive slot at US 105 in Temple. Her last step up the ladder landed her where she is now, at Austin’s KOKE-FM. Ballou and her co-host Eric Raines fill weekday afternoons with the fan-favorite Rita & Raines Show and she also plays “side piece” to Country Music Hall of Fame member Bob Cole on the KOKE and Cole Morning Show. Ballou is also the social media/digital manager for KOKE-FM and preps the station’s Texas/Red Dirt music news segments (aptly named The Ballou News). Ballou – whose stage name comes from the Guy Clark song of the same name – is married to her college sweetheart, and together they have two weenie dogs and live just outside of Austin in Hutto, Texas.

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