One day during a high school visit to the beach, she entered a nearby pay recording booth and sang her own version of Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear."

With the demo in hand, Willis impressed her then boyfriend, drummer Mas Palermo, and joined his rockabilly band at the age of 16.

In Austin, Willis attracted the notice of several influential Texas singer-songwriters including Nanci Griffith and Lyle Lovett.

MCA ensured that Willis was interviewed by several national magazines including unusual venues like Vogue and Mademoiselle.

Her voice appeared in the 1991 Ridley Scott-produced movie Thelma and Louise, singing "Little Honey" and "I Don't Want to Love You (But I Do)."

[4] In 2003, Willis and Bruce Robison, her husband and fellow country musician, released the record Happy Holidays, a cover album of Christmas songs.

Starting in 2005, Willis and Robison appeared in television and radio commercials for the anti-allergy product Claritin.

The album is co-written by Willis, Prophet and notable songwriter Jules Shear, and includes a cover version of Iggy Pop's "Success."

In early 2008, Willis announced she would take an indefinite hiatus from live performances due to family obligations.

Said Willis in a website announcement, "Being a traveling musician with four kids may not make an extremely compelling reality TV show but it is kicking my butt.

Willis has recently begun to tour outside of Texas again; first she headlined the Northern Rockies Folk Festival in Hailey, Idaho on August 7, 2010.

Next up, she performed at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on October 2, 2010.

After the album's release, Willis became pregnant again and gave birth to twins Abigail Esme and Benjamin James[10] on March 24, 2003[11][12] On January 10, 2006, Kelly welcomed 4th child Joseph Willis Robison; he weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 19.75 inches long.