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The U.S. state ofTexas has long been a center for musical innovation and is the birthplace of many notable musicians. Texans have pioneered developments inTejano andConjunto music,Rock 'n Roll,Western swing,jazz,Piano,punk rock,country,hip-hop,electronic music,gothicindustrial music,religious music,mariachi,psychedelic rock,zydeco and theblues.[1]
Van Cliburn who was raised inKilgore, Texas was an Americanpianist celebrated for his extraordinary talent and numerous accomplishments. He gained international fame after winning the firstInternational Tchaikovsky Competition inMoscow,Soviet Union in 1958, becoming anemblem ofCold War cultural diplomacy and a symbol of American musical excellence. Cliburn's subsequent concert tours and recordings solidified his status, making him one of the firstclassical musicians to achievepop star-like fame. He received numerousaccolades throughout his career, including aGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award and thePresidential Medal of Freedom. Cliburn also founded the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which continues to celebrate and promote youngpianists worldwide, further cementing his legacy in theclassical music community, and the musical legacy of Kilgore.
Sacred music has a long tradition in the state of Texas. TheEast Texas Musical Convention was organized in 1855,[2] and is the oldestSacred Harp convention in Texas, and the second oldest in the United States. The Southwest Texas Sacred Harp Convention was organized in 1900.[3]
Sacred Harp and other books in four shape notation were the forerunners of sevenshape notegospel music. According to theHandbook of Texas, "The first Texas community singing using the seven shape note tradition reportedly occurred in the latter part of December 1879. Itinerant teachers representing the A. J. Showalter Company of Dalton, Georgia – including company founder A. J. Showalter – ventured west toGiddings in East Texas and conducted a rural music school that lasted for several weeks." Texas has been home to several gospel music convention publishers, including the National Music Company, Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company (founded in 1924 byV. O. Stamps, who later partnered withJ. R. Baxter), and the Stamps Quartet Music Company (founded by Frank Stamps). Convention gospel music and community singings still occur in a number of Texas towns, includingMineral Wells,Brownfield,Jacksonville,Seymour, andStephenville.[4]
Gospel singer, songwriter, and musicianWashington Phillips was fromFreestone County. Gospel singer and pianistArizona Dranes, who introducedragtime andbarrelhouse to gospel music, was from Texas as well.[5]
Ragtime composerScott Joplin was born in 1868 nearTexarkana, and later became famous playing music halls inMissouri.[6]
Gene Austin was born inGainesville in 1900. Austin popularized the song "My Blue Heaven", which sold more than 10 million copies. He is remembered as the original "crooner", and was commonly known as "The Voice of the Southland".[7]
Texas has long been the birthplace of numerouscountry musicians and continues to host a vibrant country music culture. Texanhonky-tonk musicians likeMilton Brown andBob Wills helped popularizeWestern swing, and modern artists likeAsleep at the Wheel continue the genre's distinct style. Other genres of country also evolved in Texas.Marcia Ball, born inOrange, Texas, combined country withCajun influences.Ernest Tubb and his country song "Walking the Floor Over You" set the stage for the rise of stars likeLefty Frizzell andJohnny Horton.Ponty Bone,Joe Ely,Lloyd Maines,Butch Hancock,Terry Allen,Jimmie Dale Gilmore, andTommy Hancock, helped invent the 1960sLubbock sound, based out ofLubbock, Texas.Mac Davis is a singer and songwriter from Lubbock who became one of the most successful country singers of the 1970s and 1980s.[8]
Outlaw country is another offshoot that has its roots in Texas, with Texans likeWaylon Jennings,Jerry Jeff Walker,Michael Martin Murphey, theLost Gonzo Band,Gary P. Nunn, andWillie Nelson (attendedBaylor University from 1954-1956 and studied agriculture) leading the movement, ably supported by writers likeBilly Joe Shaver. It was this scene, largely based out ofAustin, that inspired performers likeGuy Clark andTownes Van Zandt, whose poetic narratives owe much to the folk tradition and proved enormously influential on younger Texan artists such asNanci Griffith andSteve Earle, who in turn inspired thealternative country scene.Tex Ritter andJim Reeves both grew up inPanola County inEast Texas.Bob Luman was born inNacogdoches.
Kenny Rogers, fromHouston, has a career spanning more than 50 years. His 1978 albumThe Gambler remains one of the most famous country albums ever released, having sold a reported 35 million copies worldwide.[9] Also from the Houston area areClint Black (grew up inMemorial),Robert Earl Keen (Sharpstown), andLyle Lovett (grew up nearKlein) and more recentlyGeorge Ducas (grew up inMemorial).
Modern musicians likeGeorge Strait, from theSan Antonio area, continue to carry on the tradition of country music in Texas. Strait "The King of Country"[10] is a singer, actor, and music producer known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and traditional country music. He holds the world record for the most #1 hit singles by any artist in the history of music on any chart or in any genre, having recorded 60 #1 hit singles as of 2016.[11]
Within country music, the distinct styles of singers such asThe Randy Rogers Band,Robert Earl Keen,Kevin Fowler,Cory Morrow,Jack Ingram,George Ducas,Jerry Jeff Walker,Pat Green,Wade Bowen,Rich O’Toole & theEli Young Band and others are often dubbed "Texas music".
TheTexas Country Music Hall of Fame is located inCarthage, Texas.[12]
Zydeco, a musical genre that evolved inSouthwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers, is popular inSoutheast Texas cities inHouston,Beaumont,Port Arthur, andOrange.[13] It was brought to the region by early pioneers of the music likeClifton Chenier who relocated in the late 1940s and early 1950s during the region's oil boom when many Creole and Cajun people moved seeking better employment opportunities.[14]
Theblues originated in theMississippi Delta and spread to Texas by the 20th century. The original audience was African-American workers at lumber camps and oilfields. When theGreat Depression hit, many musicians moved to cities including Houston andGalveston, where they created a style known asTexas blues.Blind Lemon Jefferson (in and aroundDallas) was the first major artist of the field, and he was followed by others such asHenry Thomas,Blind Willie Johnson (who was principally a gospel singer),Big Mama Thornton,Lightnin' Hopkins,Mance Lipscomb, andT-Bone Walker, as well asMelvin Jackson,Alger "Texas" Alexander,Little Hat Jones,Buster Pickens,Johnny "Guitar" Watson, andGoree Carter.Freddie King, born inGilmer, was active from the 1950s to the mid-1970s.[15][16]
By the 1970s, Texas blues had lost much of its original popularity, but was eventually revived by the blues rock stylings of artists includingJohn Nitzinger,Johnny Winter,Edgar Winter,ZZ Top,Bugs Henderson, andThe Fabulous Thunderbirds, who set the stage for a 1980s blues revival led byStevie Ray Vaughan andAlbert Collins.
Boogie-woogie is a music genre that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in the 1870s. It was eventually extended from piano, to piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western music, and gospel. While the blues traditionally expresses a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie is mainly associated with dancing.
Goree Carter's "Rock Awhile" (1949) has been cited by several writers as thefirst rock and roll record.[17][18][19] It featured anover-drivenelectric guitar style similar to that ofChuck Berry years later.[17][19] The song was recorded inHouston, where Carter was born and lived most of his life.[19]
One of the first major Texan musical stars wasBuddy Holly, who was born in Lubbock in 1936, died in the 1959 plane crash, and is buried in Lubbock. Anotherrock and roll singer,Roy Orbison, fromWink, Texas, also became popular in the 1950s. He was followed byBuddy Knox,Bobby Fuller, andDallasrockabilly starsGene Summers,Johnny Carroll, andRonnie Dawson.Southern soul singerJoe Tex was born inRogers, Texas.
The 1960s witnessed many influential rock artists such asJanis Joplin, fromPort Arthur; she is ranked #46 onRolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of the100 Greatest Artists of All Time.Doug Sahm'sSir Douglas Quintet released several influential performances, as didpsychedelic rock underground legends13th Floor Elevators, led byRoky Erickson.Garage rock band The Heart Beats, formed in 1966, were based in Lubbock. The hard rock ofZZ Top was born out of the bandsAmerican Blues andMoving Sidewalks in Houston in 1969. In 1971,Bloodrock, fromFort Worth, released "D.O.A.", which became a major international hit.Don Henley of the Eagles grew up inLinden.
Thepsychedelic rock movement of the 1960s and 1970s has deep roots in Texas.The Thirteenth Floor Elevators were an American rock band fromAustin, Texas, formed by guitarist and vocalistRoky Erickson, electric jug playerTommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969. During their career, the band released four LPs and seven 45s for theInternational Artists record label.Bubble Puppy was formed in 1966 in San Antonio by Rod Prince and Roy Cox. The name "Bubble Puppy"[20] was taken from "Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy", a fictitious children's game inAldous Huxley'sBrave New World. Bubble Puppy's live debut was as the opening act forThe Who inSan Antonio.
The Sherwoods[21] were aCorpus Christi quintet that was popular from 1968 to 1969 and made two 45s onSmash Records in 1969. They were a psychedelic pop group, patterned after theMoving Sidewalks (featuring Billy Gibbons) and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.Red Krayola andThe Golden Dawn carried the genre into the 1970s, but as George Kinney of The Golden Dawn said, "when the whole Elevator/Golden Dawn mystique was gone forever, at least as an actual presence on the Austin music scene. It all disappeared like a mysterious dream of super substantial reality, like the shadows of a once and future dawn."[22] The front man of Red Krayola,Mayo Thompson, made a respectable career as a producer of some of the underground's biggest names ―Pere Ubu,Primal Scream,The Fall,The Raincoats, andScritti Politti to name a few.[23] In the 1990s, the significant influence shown by notable rock pioneer Roky Erickson was honored in the 1990Warner Brothers release ofWhere the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson, on which various rockers recorded his songs.[24]
The Black Angels from Austin formed in May 2004; the band's name derives from theVelvet Underground song "The Black Angel's Death Song". In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music calledPsychedelica Vol.1 fromNorthern Star Records.Smoke and Feathers were formed in Austin in 2007.[25]Austin Psych Fest was founded in 2008 by members of the psychedelic music scene,The Reverberation Appreciation Society, to honor the legacy of Austin's musical history as the birthplace of psychedelic rock through the creation of a music and multimedia art festival.
Texas has long had a distinctivepunk rock sound emergent from a number of urban scenes, especially those ofAustin andHouston. Austin in particular has been considered a significant punk city; major venues there in the late 1970s and early 1980s included Raul's, where the Austin punk/new wave scene began, spearheaded bythe Skunks and the Violators in the first weeks of 1978. Other significant venues included the Continental Club on South Congress Avenue and the (now defunct) Club Foot Fourth Street downtown. The Skunks, which featuredJesse Sublett on bass and vocals, attracted significant attention to the scene because of their loyal following and also because touring bands, includingPatti Smith,Elvis Costello,the Clash,Blondie, and others dropped in at their gigs at Raul's and the Continental Club to jam with them.
Radio played a major role in spreading the sound and creating the culture of punk. In Houston, two pioneering radio programs in particular, Marilyn Mock'sS&M Show on KTRU-FM and Perry Coma'sThe Funhouse Show on KPFT-FM, were instrumental in helping create the punk scene in that city, through band interviews and playing import-only records, as well as the flamboyant personalities of the DJs. Local punk zines likeXLR8 and music weeklies such asPublic News, and independent record outlets like Real Records, Record Rack, Record Exchange, and Vinal Edge not only brought in punk and "new wave" sounds from across the world, but they hosted in-store concerts where fans could meet the artists. The punk scene flourished in the early 1980s, led bythe Skunks, theBig Boys,The Dicks,MDC,Really Red,The Degenerates,Mydolls, The Hates,The Judy's, the Volumatix,DRI,Sik Mentality, the Killerwatts andCulturcide; so did the scene in Dallas, with groups such as The Telefones, NCM, Bobby Soxx & the Teenage Queers,Bomb Squad,The Hugh Beaumont Experience andStick Men with Ray Guns. Some notable Houston clubs were the Island, Cabaret Voltaire (a punk rock club in the warehouse district of downtown), the Apocalypse Monster Club (in the Clear Lake area near NASA), the Axiom (in one of the old Cabaret Voltaire locations),Fitzgerald's, The Abyss, and Numbers (a predominantly new wave club). In the mid-1990s, post-hardcore actAt the Drive-In formed in El Paso, along with its two offshoots,Sparta andThe Mars Volta. Among some notable horror punk andpsychobilly bands that hail from Texas areThe Reverend Horton Heat, Horror Cult, and The Flametrick Subs.
Severalalternative rock bands from Texas also reached mainstream popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included bands likeToadies (whose biggest hit, "Possum Kingdom", was named for alake west of Fort Worth),Flickerstick,Fastball,Butthole Surfers (from San Antonio; formed atTrinity University), The Duckhills,Tripping Daisy,Blue October, and, by the end of the 1990s,The Polyphonic Spree andChlorine. In the 2000s,Bowling for Soup achieved significant popularity, as well asBurden Brothers, which was co-founded by Toadies lead singerVaden Todd Lewis.Memphis May Fire formed inDenton.The New Bohemians,Forever The Sickest Kids,Crown The Empire, andFit for a King are fromDallas.Myka, Relocate is fromHouston.Kublai Khan hails fromSherman.
TheArlington-area bandPantera went on to become heavily influential in themetal genre.[26]Plano bandPolyphia achieved considerable popularity as a progressive metal artist, culminating in collaborations withSteve Vai andBABYMETAL. A live version of Power Trip's song "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2021.
Other notable bands includeLas Cruces,Brutal Juice,Drowning Pool,The Sword,Fair to Midland,Crown the Empire, Coilback,Oh, Sleeper,Fire From the Gods,Texas Hippie Coalition,Upon A Burning Body andElement Eighty.Houston metal bands from the 1980s includeHelstar,King's X,Galactic Cowboys,The Hunger,Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, andDead Horse.
Christian based bands likeSeventh Day Slumber andAddison Road were formed in Dallas.Flyleaf is fromBelton. David Persons is fromFort Worth,Texas and now lives in Austin.
Tactical Sekt, Lesson Seven, was a Dallas band from 1987-1992 that toured with Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails. During those years they performed with Ministry, Laibach, Swans, Front Line Assembly, Meat Beat Manifesto, Weatherman, Clan of Xymox among others. International Thief Thief, Audio Assault, The Hunger, Sin D.N.A., Virus Filter, Souless Affection areaggrotech bands based in Texas, as is the multifaceted electronic duoMentallo and the Fixer.Bozo Porno Circus from Houston was awarded "Best Industrial Band" by theHouston Press six years straight from 1998 to 2004, and re-activated in 2009 with new members.Chant out of Austin was awarded "Best Performing Industrial Band" in the 2009-2010 Austin Music Awards.Torque Order is an industrial metal band based in Austin. Dallas-area industrial acts includeRivetHead,The Razorblade Dolls,Echelon High, andKoppur Thief.
Texas has also been home to experimental/avant-garde music. In Houston,Black Leather Jesus is among the state's earliestharsh noise acts, andB L A C K I E's fusion of noise and hip-hop is considered by some to be a precursor toDeath Grips.[27] Also from Houston,Jandek's music has been defined by its dissonance and atonality, qualities that have drawn comparisons to avant-garde composers likeJohn Cage andArnold Schoenberg.[28] Other experimental/avant-garde artists of note have also hailed from Austin, with artists likeShit and Shine and Dromez originating, andpower electronics pioneerPhilip Best ofWhitehouse currently residing there.
SingerEsther Phillips and pianist and singerCamille Howard were born inGalveston.Electric blues andR&B guitarist, singer, and songwriterBarbara Lynn was born inBeaumont. She is best known for her 1962 hit "You'll Lose A Good Thing".Kelly Rowland andBeyoncé are from Houston.
Houston has long been the focus of an independent hip-hop music scene, influencing and influenced by the largerSouthern hip-hop andgangsta rap communities. Notable artists includeTravis Scott,Chamillionaire,Paul Wall,Bun B,Pimp C,Z-Ro,Big Hawk,Big Moe,Big Mello, Big Steve, Chris Ward,C-Note,Devin The Dude, DJ DMD,E.S.G.,Fat Pat, J-Dawg, Killa Kyleon,Kirko Bangz,Lil' Keke,Lil' Flip,Lil' O,Lil' Troy, Mike D,Mike Jones, K-Rino, Al-D, Mr. 3-2,Slim Thug,South Park Mexican, Yungstar,Trae Tha Truth,Scarface and groups such as ABN,Boss Hogg Outlawz,Botany Boyz, Coughee Brothaz, D.E.A., Guerilla Maab,Geto Boys, Herschelwood Hardheadz, M.O.B.,Screwed Up Click, South Park Coalition andUGK. The Houston hip-hop scene is known for thechopped and screwed sound invented byScrewed Up Click leaderDJ Screw, and remains the location most associated with the style.
Vanilla Ice was born in Dallas, and grew up moving between Dallas andMiami.[29][30]The D.O.C. is from West Dallas. He worked withDr. Dre as an artist and writer. Christian hip hop artistD-Boy Rodriguez received moderate commercial success and was part of the burgeoning christian hip hop scene in Dallas and the rest of Texas in the late 80s, until he was murdered in 1990. Other rappers such asBig Lurch,Mr. Pookie,Mr. Lucci,Big Tuck,Dorrough, andDondria also hail from Dallas. Rappers such as legends Lil Sin, andP.K.O. as well asWorldwide,Richie Branson,Cadillac Muzik,King Kyle Lee, andMike Dimes all hail from San Antonio.[31] There is also a burgeoningR&B scene that includes alumni such asDestiny's Child andGary Clark, Jr., as well as up-and-comers Leon Bridges, The Suffers, Latasha Lee, Tameca Jones, and Alesia Lani among others.
Tejano music is the fusion of several different musical influences, such as Mexicanrancheras, Germanpolka, jazz, and zydeco, among others.Lydia Mendoza,Anselmo Martinez,Isidro López,Santiago Almeida,Flaco Jiménez,Freddie Fender,Rosita Fernández,Texas Tornados, andNarciso Martínez remain some of its most influential figures.La Mafia and Else Garcia paved the way for and built a strong Tejano foundation in Texas forSelena Quintanilla helped bring the genre more attention in the 1990s with one of the first Spanish to English crossover hits ever, adding influences from Mexicancumbia to theR&B trend of the day.San Angelo bandLos Lonely Boys fuse Tejano with contemporary blues and jazz.
Barbara Smith Conrad, born inCenter Point, was an internationally acclaimedoperaticmezzo-soprano.
Austin's artistic community helped popularize artists such asStevie Ray Vaughan,Stevie Nicks ofFleetwood Mac,The Police, andElvis Costello in the Southwest.[citation needed] Tex-Mex/new wave bands Vallejo andJoe King Carrasco & the Crowns gained some national fame. Local punk and new wave bands in the late 1970s included The Huns andthe Skunks, along with The Delinquents, Standing Waves, and Jack Limbo. These bands soon clashed with an influx ofhardcore punk bands likeThe Dicks,The Offenders, andBig Boys. Other notable Austin bands, such as ambient duoStars of the Lid, eschewed this clash all together.
Austin, especially through its central music scene in the corridors of Red River Avenue, South Congress Avenue and6th Street, has been dubbed "The Live Music Capital of the World". The Texas Music Hall of Fame and Texas Music Museum are also located here. The Austin area is home toAustin City Limits Music Festival andSouth by Southwest (est. 1987), one of the largest annual music festivals in the United States. Austin has long been a hub of innovative psychedelic sound, from the pioneeringRoky Erickson and the13th Floor Elevators to theButthole Surfers, and hosts an annual festival celebrating the genre and Austin's contributions to it calledAustin Psych Fest.
Austin is currently home to a number of bands that are enjoying popularity as part of the Americanindie rock scene. These includeSpoon (singerBritt Daniel attended theUniversity of Texas),Ghostland Observatory,...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead,I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness,Explosions in the Sky,Okkervil River,The Black Angels,The Bright Light Social Hour, andWhite Denim, among others.
The transition of the Austin music scene from the mid-seventies progressive country scene to the punk/new wave and alternative influence that followed is captured inJesse Sublett's memoir,Never the Same Again: A Rock n' Roll Gothic, which details Sublett's experiences withthe Skunks and other bands during that time period. Sublett has also documented the Austin music scene in his music-themed crime novels,Rock Critic Murders,Tough Baby, andBoiled in Concrete.[32]
This area on the Gulf Coast northeast of Houston is also home to many legendary musicians:George Jones (d. 2013),Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,Janis Joplin,Barbara Lynn,Edgar andJohnny Winter (d.2014),J.P. Richardson a.k.a. "The Big Bopper", country starsMark Chesnutt,Tracy Byrd,Clay Walker, and Jimmy and David Lee Kaiser, and rappersPimp C (d.2007) andBun B ofUGK.
Known primarily for Tejano starSelena Quintanilla,Corpus Christi was also home toReverend Horton Heat singer Jim Heath andgarage rock bandZakary Thaks.
Dallas has a rich musical heritage. The number of prolific musicians who played in the Deep Ellum Central Track area was rivaled in the South only byMemphis'Beale Street.T-Bone Walker,Lead Belly,Blind Lemon Jefferson,Blind Willie Johnson, and evenRobert Johnson himself first recorded in this area, just asBob Wills and theLight Crust Doughboys were leaving the studio. In the 1960s, Dallas produced notable entertainersTrini Lopez andStevie Ray Vaughan. Other notable musicians from Dallas includeErykah Badu,Cedar Walton,Gibby Haynes of theButthole Surfers,Mike Nesmith ofThe Monkees,The Polyphonic Spree,Old 97's,St. Vincent,Edie Brickell & New Bohemians,LehtMoJoe,Meat Loaf,Norah Jones,Willie Hutch,Baboon,The Secret Machines,Dorrough,The Paper Chase,Devourment,Absu,Course of Empire,MC 900 Ft. Jesus,Jena Rose,Reverend Horton Heat andPantera.
Dallas has a vibrant live music scene aroundDeep Ellum, an area near downtown that is currently gentrifying.[33]
The music culture that exists inDenton arose with the founding of theUniversity of North Texas College of Music Jazz studies program in 1947, the first of its kind in the country. In the last 20 years Denton's vibrant and diverse music culture has grown beyond the collegiate world of UNT's College of Music. In 2007 and 2008, Denton's music scene received feature attention fromThe Guardian,Pop Matters,[34] andThe New York Times.[35]Paste Magazine named Denton the best music scene in the United States in 2008.[36] The Denton music scene received the #1 rank for "Top 10 under recognized music locations" in the world, on a culture blog called Listverse.[37]
Denton bands include longtime mainstay and two-time Grammy Award-winningBrave Combo, EXIT 380,The Wee-Beasties,Norah Jones, Deep Blue Something, The Ducks (not the former Moby Grape band),Lift to Experience,Centro-Matic,Brutal Juice, Six Hard Brothers and a Dog, Drunk Skunks, Harry Has a Head Like a Ping Pong Balls, SayWhat, Chyeah Boi, the Don't Be Scurd, OkieDoke,South San Gabriel,Slobberbone, Pops Carter and the Funkmonsters,The Drams,Bosque Brown,Eli Young Band, Matthew and The Arrogant Sea,Midlake,Record Hop, History At Our Disposal,The Marked Men,Fergus & Geronimo, The Wax Museums, Violent Squid, andNeon Indian.
Several music festivals are hosted in Denton, including35 Denton and theDenton Arts and Jazz Festival.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, an independent label out of Fort Worth known as Bluebonnet recorded numerous albums of high-quality material by many pioneer artists in the country music and religious genres such asBradley Kincaid, theGirls of the Golden West,Buddy Starcher,Yodelin' Kenny Roberts, and many other country music and gospel pioneers, many of whom had been popular on radio in the first half of the 20th century.
Before this, however,Bob Wills got his start just north of Fort Worth in Saginaw at the Light Crust Flour Mill. This is where Bob Wills, Leon McAuliffe, and Tommy Duncan first started playing music together. Wills recruited the Light Crust Doughboys and they later changed their name to Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Free jazz pioneerOrnette Coleman was born and raised in Fort Worth, as were fellowjazz artistsRonald Shannon Jackson,Charles Moffett,Prince Lasha,John Carter,Dewey Redman,Julius Hemphill, andCornell Dupree, all of whom attendedI.M. Terrell High School, where G.A. Baxter was the music instructor.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]
In 1971,Bloodrock had 3 albums at once onBillboard Magazine′s top 100 charts. After 8 albums on E.M.I./Capitol, they maintain a worldwide cult following. A co-writer of Bloodrock songs and hits, Johnny Nitzinger still plays local venues and creates recordings.Toadies' debut albumRubberneck went platinum in 1996.T-Bone Burnett grew up in Fort Worth.Nintendocore bandSky Eats Airplane formed in Ft. Worth.
Also, many songwriters of note have come from Fort Worth includingTownes Van Zandt,Delbert McClinton,Ray Sharpe, Johnny Redd andDavid Persons.
Houston has been home to some of the more experimental music of Texas. FromMayo Thompson's psychedelic free music group theRed Crayola and the experimental work of composerPauline Oliveros to the hardcore rap of theGeto Boys and the primordial sludge rock of Rusted Shut, Houston has long been home for experimental music.The Pain Teens,Charalambides, andRichard Ramirez are among the better known Houston artists. Notable rising bands includeSpain Colored Orange,Southern Backtones, Jennifer Grassman, and The Ton Tons. Among the city's most influential punk bands were the hardcoreReally Red andDRI. The local scene has also includedCulturcide,Verbal Abuse, Stark Raving Mad, Sik Mentality,Dresden 45, Legionnaire's Disease, The Hates, AK-47, The Killerwatz, Free Money,Asmodeus X,The Black Math Experiment, The Recipients,30 foot fall, Gone Rogue, andThe Degenerates. Houston is known for itschopped and screwed rap music, popularized byDJ Screw and theScrewed Up Click.
Houston also is the home oflo-fi music straddling blues, folk, and antiphonal traditions, as epitomized by elusive cult heroJandek and the slightly more visibleJana Hunter. Houston is the birthplace and final resting place ofChris Whitley (1960–2005) who won a Grammy for hisLiving with the Law, revolutionized the steeldobro guitar, and enjoyed a massive cult following, but died prematurely of lung cancer in 2005. Houston is home toBeyoncé,Hilary Duff,ZZ Top,Kelly Rowland, and the other original members ofDestiny's Child. Houston is the birthplace of Grammy Award Winning Gospel ArtistYolanda Adams; who in 2009 was named the #1 Gospel Artist of the last decade byBillboard Magazine.Jazz artists born in Houston include saxophonistsBilly Harper andWalter Smith III, pianistsRobert Glasper andJason Moran, and drummerEric Harland.Prairie View Co-eds formed atPrairie View A&M University in the 1940s.Kashmere High School was home ofKashmere Stage Band from the late 1960s to 1978. Houston has had sizable folk-country and blues scenes dating back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, which included many now famous performers such asNanci Griffith,Guy Clark,Townes Van Zandt,Lyle Lovett,Robert Earl Keen (Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen both attendedTexas A&M University) andLightnin' Hopkins,Albert Collins,Big Mama Thornton, andJohnny Copeland who were signed with the hometownPeacock Records.
Still known primarily forTejano music andHeavy Metal,San Antonio throws theTejano Conjunto Festival, an annual three-day event celebratingConjunto music, the largest of its kind in the world. Many of the Conjunto legends lived and recorded here. Names like Valerio Longoria,Santiago Jimenez Sr. and Jr.,Flaco Jimenez (who has recorded with everyone from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones), Steve Jordan and many others.
San Antonio was also one of the major centers forChicano Soul along with Los Angeles, California.Sunny & the Sunliners cracked the Top Ten and were the first Mexican American act to appear nationally on Dick Clark'sAmerican Bandstand. Other significant Chicano Soul bands included Rudy & The Reno Bops, Royal Jesters, Dimas Garza, The Dell Tones, Joe Bravo, The Lyrics, and Sonny Ace. At first thought, San Antonio, Texas, is not immediately associated with the development of jazz, yet the city does have a long and very creditable history. In the 1920s and '30s, many of the legendaryterritory bands played there as they swung through south-east Texas, among themAlphonso Trent and Tenrrence T. Holder. Resident in San Antonio itself for long periods was Troy Floyd's band, sometime home to trumpeterDon Albert, and tenor saxophonistsHerschel Evans andBuddy Tate. Floyd's band regularly played at both the Shadowland Ballroom and the Plaza Hotel; from the latter, they were broadcast over station HTSA. When Don Albert later formed his own band, which included clarinetists and saxophonistsHerb Hall andLouis Cottrell plus trumpeterAlvin Alcorn, they, too, played the Shadowland. Albert, incidentally, was the first bandleader to use the word "swing" in his billing: "America's Greatest Swing Band". And drummer Clifford "Boots" Douglas formed his band, Boots and his Buddies, in San Antonio in 1932 and remained based there. Among individual musicians with long associations with the city were brothersErnie and Emilio Caceres. Clarinetist and saxophonist Ernie played with many swing-era bands, including those led byJack Teagarden,Glenn Miller,Benny Goodman,Tommy Dorsey, andWoody Herman. After years in New York, where he played withEddie Condon andBobby Hackett, he settled in San Antonio, remaining there for the rest of his life. His brothers, the violinist Emilio and trumpeter Pinero, also played in San Antonio. Another member of the Caceres family, David, was a bop altoist at nightclubs throughout the 1990s.[45]
San Antonio also spawned theButthole Surfers, a hardcorealternative rock band which broke into the mainstream in the mid-1990s, signing toCapitol Records and successfully charting several singles and albums. Other successful acts born and bred in San Antonio are:Boxcar Satan,Two Tons of Steel,The Union Underground, Las Cruces, Sane,Hyperbubble andFearless Iranians from Hell. San Antonio has deep roots in America's classical music,Jazz, withKRTU-FM representing one of the most significant jazz radio stations in the country, and theJim Cullum Jazz Band serving as a staple act on theSan Antonio Riverwalk. Fellow college radio station,KSYM-FM, features 'The Best of the Beatles' with Richard Turner, relying on one of the most comprehensive collections of Beatles recordings ever amassed to spin on his weekly show.
San Antonio is also home toLocal782, a musician-led, non-profit initiative seeking to educate and empower Texas-based musicians by organizing events throughout the year, including seminars, performances, mixers, showcases, and fundraisers. A slew of new rock bands started in the 2000s have joined a couple longer-running favorites,Girl In A Coma - whose song "Clumsy Sky" won Best Punk Song in The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards - and Buttercup, to develop a burgeoning 'indie' scene. These bands include: Blowing Trees, Morris Orchids, We Leave At Midnight, Cartographers, and Education, the last of whose 2011 album,Age Cage, was produced byGordon Raphael, producer ofthe Strokes'Is This It andRegina Spektor'sSoviet Kitsch. Exponential Records has helped put San AntonioElectronica on the map, catapulting artists like Diego Chavez, a.k.a. Aether and Ernest Gonzales, a.k.a. Mexicans With Guns, to much wider audiences.
San Antonio has a thrivinghip hop community as well, including emcee/producerWorldwide, theR&B-tinged duo Mojoe, of Classic.Ghetto.Soul fame, the rapper Question, collaborator withTalib Kweli andBun B on the track "I'm So Tall", the producer/rapperRichie Branson, born Marcus Brown, whose clientele include Def Jam Recordings andSony Music Entertainment,[46] andthe Vultures crew, whose albumDesert Eagles, Vol. 1 was praised by theSan Antonio Current's Best Music Advocate of 2010 as "the most complete record to ever come out of San Antonio". San Antonio is also home to Texas Death core bandUpon A Burning Body.Christopher Cross from San Antonio had 2 #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sailing" in 1980.
San Marcos, in the greater Austin area, has a number of local bands, includingThis Will Destroy You,BROCKHAMPTON, andThe Oh Hellos.
The following Texans have had a #1Billboard Hot 100 hit (since 1957):Beyoncé (5 #1 hits like "Crazy in Love" in 2003),Destiny's Child (4 #1 hits like "Say My Name" in 2000),Kelly Rowland (4 #1 hits likeDilemma in 2002),Kelly Clarkson (3 #1 hits like "A Moment Like This" in 2002), rock and roll pioneerRoy Orbison (d.1988) (2 #1 hits like "Oh, Pretty Woman" in 1964), country singerKenny Rogers (d.2020) (2 #1s like "Islands in the Stream" in 1983),Christopher Cross (2 #1s like "Sailing" in 1980),The Crickets (w/Buddy Holly (d.1959), "That'll Be the Day" in 1957),B.J. Thomas ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in 1970),Janis Joplin (d.1970) ("Me and Bobby McGee" in 1971, she attended theUniversity of Texas),Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now" in 1972),Meat Loaf ("I'd Do Anything for Love" in 1993),Lisa Loeb ("Stay (I Missed You)" in 1994), country groupLonestar ("Amazed" in 2000), Houston rapperChamillionaire ("Ridin'" in 2006), Dallas rapperPost Malone 4 #1's (like "Rockstar" in 2017), Houston rapperTravis Scott with "Sicko Mode" in 2018, and Houston rapperMegan Thee Stallion ("Savage (Megan Thee Stallion song)" ft. Beyonce) in 2020.
In addition, Texas musicians with a #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart include:George Strait with 4(Carrying Your Love with Me) in 1997,Pantera(Far Beyond Driven),Selena(Dreaming of You) in 1995,LeAnn Rimes with 2 in 1997, rapperScarface in 1997,Dixie Chicks with 3 (Home in 2002),Norah Jones with 3 (Come Away With Me in 2003),Hilary Duff with 2 (Metamorphosis in 2003),Ashlee Simpson with 2 like (Autobiography in 2004),Paul Wall in 2005,Jamie Foxx in 2006,UGK in 2007,Demi Lovato in 2009,Selena Gomez 3 #1's like(Revival) in 2015,Miranda Lambert(Platinum) in 2014, rapperLecrae in 2014, rapperTravis Scott (2 #1's), andSolange Knowles in 2016.Pentatonix has had 2 #1 albums on the Billboard 200. Hip hop groupBrockhampton from San Marcos had a #1 album in 2018. R&B singerKhalid from El Paso had a #1 album in 2019.
