Chuck Wagon gang
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 …
Category: Classic Texan Musicians
Santiago Jimenez Jr
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 …
Lydia Mendoza
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 …
Baca Family Band
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
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
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 …
Cindy Walker
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 …
Sippie Wallace
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 …
Lead Belly
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 …
Classic Texan Musicians: Ernest Tubb
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
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
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 …
Vernon Dalhart
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
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 …
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
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, …
