"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 look at various genres of Texas music. The
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, among 
others.

    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.

_________________________________________________________

The late LAWRENCE CLAYTON was dean of Liberal Arts at 
Hardin-Simmons University. His many publications focused largely 
on the life and literature of the American West, especially on 
contemporary cowboy and ranch life. JOE W. SPECHT is director of 
the Jay-Rollins Library at McMurry University. A former host of his 
own radio show, Burning Memories: The Texas Tradition, he has 
contributed entries to The Encyclopedia of Country Music and has 
published articles in Old Time Music and The Journal of Texas Music 
History.


Number Ninety-three: Centennial Series of the Association of
Former Students, Texas A&M University


What people are saying about this book


". . . a rather fine collection of essays. . ."—Western Historical 
Quarterly, Autumn 2004