Hip-hop star, Jacques Bermon Webster II- aka Travis Scott- was born on April 30th, 1991. He grew up in Missouri City, a suburban part of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. His Houston upbringing became a part of him and his …
The Lone Star State is known for many things – its vastness, its history (it was an independent country at one time!), and its culture. Part of this culture involves the countless successful musicians who claim Texas as their home, …
William Orville Frizzell, better known as Lefty Frizzell, was a highly successful country singer who reached the top of the charts several times throughout his career. Growing up with an oil driller as his father, he moved throughout the oil …
A supergroup is group of musicians that come together after becoming successful in other bands or as solo artists. HELLYEAH is an American supergroup metal band originating from Dallas, Texas. They formed in 2006 and are on an indefinite hiatus …
Everybody knows about the British Invasion of the 1960s, where British bands such as The Beatles exploded in popularity in the United States. The unprecedented level of influence and inspiration generated by this phenomena forever changed the landscape of the …
From Instagram: @eraste_ A country song plays over a small radio echoing sounds of soft instrumentals and laid-back crooner voices. The song is carried throughout a resting household filling up the quiet spaces in each room. Before it can make …
Below is a chopped and screwed remix of Tejano artist, Lydia Mendoza’s song “Mal Hombre”. This beat was made on logic pro x, mainly using the time stretch feature to achieve that classic chopped and screwed slowed down sound. The …
Alexis Hollada was born in Houston Texas on July 17th, 1976. She is a vocalist and bassist for both of the bands that she is currently involved in and takes inspiration from artists of all different genres. Her inspiration started …
For my creative project, I decided to focus on Houston Hip-Hop, and make a beat that resembled the common themes and aesthetics of Houston’s rap style. I began to conduct research on what made Houston’s style different from the east and west …
Tori: Welcome to Texan Music True Crime, the podcast where we talk about the stories and lives of musicians. Tori: I have received some feedback from listeners/readers like you to do a session on Blaze Foley. Now, there was not a lot of …
Buddy Holly is one of the most iconic musical figures to come out of the State of Texas. While his career was cut short, his influence was the foundation for what we know as modern Rock and Roll. Born in …
For this creative project, I decided to combine my love of music with my love of visual arts. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon when two sensory pathways in the brain get tangled, resulting in an experience of one sense eliciting …
While Selena Quintanilla is remembered for her dedication to cumbia rhythms, upbeat dance tunes, and her bubbly personality, she was committed to business and entrepreneurship, and in her young twenty-three years was the proud owner of two boutiques, Selena Etc., …
The name Buddy Holly is as iconic to Texas as the Alamo or the flag itself. Buddy, born Charles Hardin Holley on September 7, 1936, was from Lubbock, Texas and the youngest of four children. In his early days as …
Context of the song: I got the inspiration for this song from Willie Nelson’s sad and emotional country songs. however the song isn’t completely 100 percent affected by his sound, I’ve added some pop-country vibes into it. This song is …
Joseph Arrington Jr. was born in Rogers, Texas in 1933. He moved to Baytown, TX and grew up there, following his parents’ divorce. During his high school days, he sang in both the school choir and his church choir. In …
Willie Hugh Nelson was born April 30, 1933. He and his older sister Bobbie were raised by their grandparents in Abbott, Texas after his parents separated. Willie was exposed to music from a very young age due to the influence …
The confederate flag has different meanings to people depending on where they are from and how they feel about it. To many, the flag represents hate, bigotry, and racism. But to some it can be seen as a symbol of …
Roy Orbison, the rock legend originating from Vernon, Texas, had a musical career that was pushed and pulled by his environment at every turn. At the age of six, he asked his parents for a harmonica for his birthday, and they gave …
Artifact 1: Pictured above is Screwed Up Records and Tapes, a record shop on 7717 Cullen Blvd in Houston Texas. This one picture has quite the history involving a pioneer in the genre of hip hop; DJ Screw. There is a rich …
The 13th Floor Elevators are often credited as being one of the earliest dedicated Psychedelic Rock performing groups. The band was formed in 1965 after founding member Roky Erickson dropped out of high school to play rock music. The formation …
Waylon Jennings, a well-known purveyor of the outlaw country scene in the 1960s and 70s, was known as the ‘Nashville Rebel.” Born in a small town outside Lubbock, he exemplifies the true Texas outlaw spirit, and his music shows this. …
Destiny’s child was formed in Houston Texas in 1990 comprised of 4 key members, Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson. The group was formed by their manager and Beyonce’s father Matthew Knowles. The group originally debuted on …
Geto Boys was a Houston based rap group that formed in 1986 and were the first to put Houston on the hip-hop map. Not only did they formulate a spotlight on hip-hop in the south, but they also introduced a new style of music, the genre of “gangsta rap”. The rappers grew up in …
Freddy Fender is a country and Tejano artist born in Texas. Some of his other genres include rock n’ roll and honky-tonk music. The chosen artifacts depict how he is important to two distinct cultures and this interaction translates into …
John Townes Van Zandt was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1944, to one of the founding families of his home city and into great fortune. His parents had hopes of him attending law school and joining the family’s oil …
Barbara Lynn loved music from the day she was born in Beaumont, Texas. As a child, she was learning piano and enjoyed it. However, she decided to switch to guitar due to Elvis but struggled to find a guitar. Lynn was born left-handed and left-handed guitars were hard to …
ZZ Top is an American rock band that was formed in Houston, Texas in 1969. The band consisted of three members with Billy Gibbons (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Dusty Hill (Bass/Vocals), and Frank Beard (Drums) This band raised into prominence in the …
Selena Quintanilla Perez, known to fans simply as Selena, was a young, lively spirit with a personality larger than life. She grew into her adult stardom after a childhood performing with her siblings. Selena’s passion for music and genuine zest …
Chuck wagon gang’s history and career: The Chuck Wagon Gang began as a radio group, hosting a show and recording for many years. From 1936 through 1975, they were signed with Columbia Records. Part of the group didn’t join in …
If you know anything about Tejano music; more specifically conjunto, then you probably have heard of the Jimenez family. Born on April 8, 1944, Santiago Jimenez Jr. was born into a musically gifted family. His father Santiago Jimenez Sr. Is known to be one …
About the Artist Lydia Mendoza was born in 1916, in Houston, Texas. She began her musical career at the age of 7, singing and learning to play mandolin and violin. She also learned how to play guitar- which she picked …
The Baca Family band was formed in 1892 by Frank Baca, the son of Joseph Baca, who had left Moravia for Galveston, Texas in 1860. This was a common move for Czech people at the time due to discrimination against them from …
Harry Choates was born near Rayne, Louisiana on December 26th, 1922. His childhood did not include much education, and he spent most of his time in local bars listening to music on the jukebox. In the 1930s, Choates and his …
Floyd Tillman was born on December 8, 1914, in Ryan, Oklahoma. He was raised in Post, TX in a sharecropper family and began playing music as a child. He was drawn to music because his brothers would earn $5 a …
Legendary songwriter Cindy Walker was born in Mart, a small town located outside Waco in central Texas, in 1918. She grew up on her grandparents’ farm and wrote her first song when she was 12 years old. Her Grandfather was …
Beulah Thomas “Sippie” Wallace was born in Houston Texas on November 1, 1898 as one of thirteen children to her parents Fanny and George W. Thomas, Sr. Sippie got her nickname for how far apart her teeth were, claiming that …
Huddie Ledbetter, also known as Lead Belly, was born in January of 1888, near Mooringsport Louisiana. He lived in Louisiana until the age of 10 when he and his family moved to east Texas onto a small farm. He started playing instruments when he was only 2 and was drawn to mastering the …
Ernest Tubb is considered one of the most influential and important performers in history as noted by the Country Music Hall of Fames website. He was a singer-songwriter and a movie actor born near Crisp, Texas in 1914. He passed …
Tex Ritter was born in Murvaul Texas on January 12th, 1905. He was born Woodward Maurice Ritter but went by the name “Tex” when he went on to form his career. He grew up on his family farm in Panola …
Blind Lemon Jefferson was born between September of 1893 and July 1897. He was born and raised in Couchman Texas which is a part of the Freestone Country. It is about halfway between Dallas and Houston. Jefferson was born blind, which is why his stage name pays homage …
Marion Try Slaughter was born in Jefferson, Texas, in 1883. The exact year of his birth is a topic of dispute, as different documents have listed different years ranging from 1880 to 1884, but 1883 is the generally accepted year. …
T- Bone Walker was born on May 28th, 1910 in his hometown of Linden Texas. Many years later he would be the first musician to bring the use of an electric guitar to popularity and form the roots of what …
King of Western Swing Bob Wills was born in Kosse, Texas, in 1905 to a family of farmers and fiddle players. Kosse is a small town in eastern Texas, located halfway between Dallas and Houston. Shortly after it was settled, …
Some background story about artist: Arizona Juanita Dranes was born on April 4, 1894, in Greenville, Texas, of mixed African-American and Mexican-American ancestry. Cora Jones was her mother, and Dranes was her father’s surname. Early in her infancy, she lost …
“The Eyes of Texas” was written by University of Texas students Lewis Johnson (music) and John L. Sinclair (lyrics) in 1903 as the university’s official alma mater. It first debuted at an annual campus minstrel show on May 12, 1903, …
The song I researched for this assignment was “El Rosalito” by Valerio Longoria. This song belongs to the Tejano style of conjunto music. Conjunto is a style of music played in a group which were popular in places in Latin American, more specifically Mexico …
Motherless Child Blues is a mysterious song by Elvie Thomas and Geeshie Wiley that was recorded in 1930 for Paramount Records. It is about lamenting not taking some motherly advice about jumping between too many men. Weather this advice was targeted to Elvie herself or just a fictitious persona is not clear. Thomas and Wiley recorded a …
“Gregorio Cortez” was recorded by Pedro Rocha & Lupe Martinez in 1929. This song is a two part song, however you can hear the change from part one to part two. The style of “Gregorio Cortez” is Corrido. At …
“Sugar Babe” by Mance Lipscomb was made in 1960. This song is definitely in the blues style of the 60s . All of the information I have found about Mance is very little but all saying the same thing. Every website says that he was a farmer that would …
“Krásna Ameríka” is one of the most iconic waltz songs to come out of the Czech subculture within Texas. It was first performed by the Joe Patek Orchestra in the 1940s. The original recording of this song was made by …
“It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine” is a song by gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson, first recorded in 1927. Johnson was born in Independence, Texas, in 1897; little is known about his childhood other than that he grew up in …
In 1922, recorded music was in its infancy, but Texan raised fiddle player Alexander Campbell “Eck” Robertson was given the opportunity to record what many music historians claim to be the first recorded country commercial phonograph record. On this groundbreaking …
Song Information “Se Me Fue Mi Amor” by Carmen y Laura was released in late 1945, recorded by Ideal Records. This song is a conjunto piece sung by two sisters. This song follows the formulaic style of conjunto music. The instrumentation includes the accordion, …
A classic American folk song associated with the cowboy culture of the post-Civil War Reconstruction era; “Old Chisholm Trail” is based on an English lyrical song from the 1670s. No singular person is credited as the songwriter, but it’s said …
Adolph Hofner played an integral part in the western swing of southern Texas during the 1940s and throughout his lifetime. Adolph Hofner and his band went through a number of name changes but when “Shiner Song” was recorded they were …
Caddo Lullaby is a song recorded by Alice Cussen. The style of this song is Native American. This song is accessible to us because it was documented and taped by Willard Rhodes. He was a Columbia University professor who decided …
Gene Autry was king of the cowboy movie. With a 60 year reign in the entertainment industry, Autry’s reach spanned much further than movies, branching into radio, TV, and music. His 1939 hit “Back in the Saddle Again” is a …
For assignment two the song I chose was “Waiting For A Train” by Jimmie Rodgers. This song was released in 1929 and it represents bluegrass country to it’s roots. This song was recorded at Victor Studios in Atlanta and quickly …
The song You‘re from Texas was written by Cindy Walker and was first recorded and released by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys in 1944. About Cindy Walker (composer): Cindy Walker, the daughter of a cotton trader, was born on her grandparents’ farm in Mart, Texas (near Mexia, …
About the Song “Un Mojado Sin Licencia” is a one of many Tejano songs, sang by Flaco Jimenez, a famous singer, songwriter, and accordionist. The word Tejano is a term used to describe Texan people that are of Mexican descent. …
“London Homesick Blues” is an outlaw country song conceived through collaboration efforts between Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker in their time performing together in the Lost Gonzo Band. This band was the result of Walker recruiting the backing …
“Amarillo By Morning” is a country song that was originally released by Terry Stafford in 1973 as a B-Side for the single “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose.” The song has been covered a multitude of times, by …
Frost Texas Tornado Blues is a song by Texas Alexander lamenting the destruction of the F-4 tornado that struck the town of Frost, Texas on May 6th, 1930. The tornado had caused an estimated two million dollars in damage during …
This song is by a Houston native and musical pioneer who goes by the stage name “Lil Keke”. Born Marcus Lakee Edwards, Lil Keke grew up on the streets of Houston, Texas, which for a long time has been a center …
The Chicks are a quintessential – albeit controversial – Texas group. Originally known as The Dixie Chicks, this trio, composed of members Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer, and Martie Maguire, was founded in Dallas, TX. The controversy surrounding the group stems …
“Dallas” by Jimmie Dale Gilmore is off of his self-titled album released on Hightone Records, based in Nashville, in 1989. The song was originally recorded by Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the Flatlanders in 1972. A number of different recordings have …
Although Garrett T. Capps is still a relatively new artist, his Texan born confidence always him to write opinionated pieces, like his new single “I Like Austin, But I Love San Antone.” A self described captain on a space ship …
Song Information: “Soy De Tejas” was written and performed by Steve Jordan. This song was released in 1979 by Hacienda Records in his album, Soy De Tejas. Hacienda Records is located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The label was founded in 1979 by brothers, Rick García and Roland Garcia. The genre of the …
For assignment 1 the song I chose was the “I Been On (Remix)”. This song was originally a Beyoncé song, but the remix made years later added flair from fellow Houston rappers Bun-B, Z-Ro, Scarface, Willie D, Slim Thug, and …
Outlaw Country music pioneer Tanya Tucker has always had a rough edge, one that led her to record her rough and tumble 1978 hit, “Texas (When I Die)”. Tucker was born in Texas in 1958 but spent the majority of …
“Texas Sun” is the title track off of a collaborative EP released in February 2020 by R&B artist Leon Bridges and funk-rock trio Khruangbin. Both artists hail from the Lone Star State; Bridges, while born in Atlanta, grew up in …
“Back To Texas” was a pop country song that was released in 2007 by Kacey Musgraves. Now, if you are not a huge fan of country music, you may be asking yourself “who is Kacey Musgraves?.” Well, I am here to tell you …
Essential to understanding Texas pride is listening to music that aggrandizes Texas. This is accomplished through “Beautiful Texas” as sung by The Light Crust Doughboys, a 5-piece band. They became one of the first to make music known as Texas …
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