Lawrence Clayton

This volume celebrates the diverse sources o the music of the Lone Star State by gathering chapters by specialists on each of them--specialist whose views may not have dominated the perception of Texas music to date. The result is an original look at the musical traditions of Texas Germans and Czechs, black Creoles and Chicanos, and blues and gospel singers. The diverse genres included in the anthology also provide an introduction to the classes, cultures, races and ethnic groups of Texas.

The Roots of Texas Music

Joe W. Specht

The music of Texas and the American Southwest is as diverse and distinctive as the many different groups who have lived in the region over the past several centuries,” writes Gary Hartman in his introduction to this refreshingly different look at various genres of Texas music. Roots of Texas Music celebrates the diverse sources of the music of the Lone Star State by gathering chapters by specialists on each of them—specialists whose views may not have dominated the perception of Texas music to date. Editor Lawrence Clayton conceived this project as one that would not simply repeat the common wisdom about Texas music traditions, but rather would offer new perspectives. He therefore called on contributors whose work had been well-grounded but not necessarily widely published. The result is a lively, captivating, and original look at the musical traditions of Texas Germans and Czechs, black Creoles and Chicanos, and blues and gospel singers. Hartman’s introduction places these repertoires within the larger picture of one of the most fertile musical seedbeds the nation knows. The diverse genres included in the anthology also provide an introduction to the classes, cultures, races, and ethnic groups of Texas and highlight the ways in which the state’s musical wealth has influenced the listening habits of the nation.

Mary Collins

Kenneth Davis

Mary Evelyn Collins

The tradition of storytelling and folklore reaches deeply into the American notion of national identity, and among the more prominent emblems of American culture stands the cowboy. Despite the attempts to modernize the cowboy of our frontier past, today's mounted horsemen have learned how to adapt to a rapidly changing world—while tenaciously holding on to their heritage. Tall tales and yarns make up a great amount of the folklore of this literary tradition, yet woven throughout such stories stir an American mixture of humor, wisdom, and philosophy. In Horsing Around, Clayton, Davis, and Collins draw upon the vast amount of anecdotes portraying the lighter side of working on the range. The collected vignettes in Horsing Around will provide the collector of Texana greater accessibility to stories that are often told only at public performances.

Lawrence Clayton

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