Pam Tillis to Perform in Victoria Tonight

A two-time Grammy Award-winning country star will show her southern sensibility tonight for a benefit at the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts. Pam Tillis, a child of Music City royalty and a former rebel, has strong feelings about supporting children and local arts. With a children's book due out soon illustrated by her sister and a childhood spent surrounded by artists and musicians, Tillis knows the value of creativity and imagination. "There's a quality of life that art and culture bring to a community," she told the Victoria Advocate. "While on one hand, it enhances the economic picture of an area; on the other hand, you can't even begin to put a value on it, especially for our children."

The concert supports Bluebonnet Youth Ranch, the Victoria Lions Club, Theatre Victoria and the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts.

Now out from under the thumb of record executives, Tillis is making music on her own terms the way she wants it. "I just believe that if you put your heart into it, that anything you do with love will translate to the audience," she said. "It's all about joy." She considers music a form of therapy. "Sometimes, people get bottled up emotionally; that's what music is for," she said. "It helps loosen all that up."

Tillis is continuing the Grits and Glamour tour with Lorrie Morgan, who collaborated together to release "Dos Divas" in 2013. She also has plans to work on two new albums this year and is building a cabin with her husband outside of Nashville.

For more information, visit WelderCenter.org.