Gary P. Nunn

Gary P. Nunn

As a founding father of the progressive country music scene in Austin, Texas, in the 1970s, Gary P. Nunn helped change the face of popular music. With a career spanning half a century – and no plans for stopping anytime soon – Nunn is a proud ambassador...
Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo

Called a “rock and punk godfather” by Rolling Stone, Alejandro Escovedo has as eclectic a background and body of work as any rock artist of his generation. As comfortable performing with a string ensemble as he is with an amped-up power trio, and as likely to bare his...
Mark James

Mark James

Penning some of popular music’s most beloved and enduring songs including the smash worldwide hits “Suspicious Minds,” “Hooked on a Feeling” and multi-Grammy Award winning “Always on My Mind,” Mark James is a songwriting legend. His songs have been  recorded in a...
Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith

Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, born in Segin, Texas, and raised in Austin. Twenty albums now, and none before like this. “Itʼs emotional for me, and itʼs personal, and it makes my heart...
Lefty Frizzell

Lefty Frizzell

With his curlicue vocal slides and note-bending effects, Lefty Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) is one of the most influential country singers in history. He was also a fine song craftsman. Like many of his generation, he was deeply influenced by the...
Lightnin’ Hopkins

Lightnin’ Hopkins

Sam (Lightnin’) Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was a blues singer and guitarist, born in Centerville, Texas. Though some sources give his year of birth as 1912, his Social Security application listed the year as 1911. He was the son of Abe and...
Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell’s career is the stuff of legend, and his songs have become standards in the country music canon. “Till I Gain Control Again,” “Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This,” “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” “Shame on the Moon,” and countless others have been...
Michael Martin Murphey

Michael Martin Murphey

Kenny Rogers and the First Edition took Murphey’s idea for a concept album revolving around a ghost town in the Mojave Desert and turned it into the critically-acclaimed, The Ballad of Calico. Murphey came back to Texas just as other “outlaw”...
Hayden Nicholas

Hayden Nicholas

James Hayden Nicholas is a Grammy-nominee songwriter, whose songs are known and loved by a generation of country music fans. The author of such modern classics as “Killin’ Time,” and “A Better Man,” Nicholas is also an acclaimed guitarist and producer. His...
Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe Shaver may not be a household name, but his songs — including “Good Christian Soldier,” “Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me,” and “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train” — are country music standards and his reputation among musicians and critics is that of a...
Larry Gatlin

Larry Gatlin

Over the course of a four-decade career that has taken the Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers from dusty Texas stages to White House performances, from Broadway to Grammy Awards to the top of the country charts, there has been one unifying element, music. Raised on...
Bruce Robison

Bruce Robison

Bruce Robison is one of the newest and biggest stars in the Texas songwriting firmament. His songs have been recorded by artists including the Dixie Chicks (“Travelin’ Soldier“), Faith Hill & Tim McGraw (“Angry All the Time“) and George Strait (“Desperately” and...
Red Steagall

Red Steagall

Cowboy singer and poet Red Steagall has covered a lot of ground in his 40 year career. Known for such songs as “Here We Go Again“, “Party Dolls and Wine“, “Freckles Brown“, and “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music“, Steagall has shared his cultural legacy around the...
Aaron Barker

Aaron Barker

Aaron Barker was born in San Antonio, Texas, and began his musical career in a “variety band” at the awkward age of thirteen. He stayed with his band for many years and played everything from Bob Wills to Bob Seger. Driving his bus from place to place, he began...
Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

“When I was in the army, I was one of the few people outside of his personal friends who knew about Willie Nelson,” Kristofferson recalls. “I listened to a disc jockey who happened to be a Willie fan. He would play Willie’s songs and talk about him all the time. By...
Freddy Powers

Freddy Powers

Country singer/songwriter Freddy Powers may not be as famous as his powerful pals Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Willie Nelson, but his award winning songs and production work are behind-the-scenes testaments to his talent and success. Powers was raised in Texas and...
Sonny Throckmorton

Sonny Throckmorton

Sonny grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas, After college, he moved to San Francisco and played rock & roll in area clubs. At the urging of guitarist and publisher Pete Drake, he switched to country music and moved to Nashville in 1964. In 1965, Bobby Lewis had a Top...
Sammy Allred

Sammy Allred

That helped lead to a record deal with Columbia Records, who issued their first album, The Kooky World of the Geezinslaw Brothers, in 1963. They recorded four albums for Capitol between 1966-1969, scoring hit singles with songs like “Chubby (Please Take Your...
Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, Buddy Holly was an American singer/songwriter who produced some of the most distinctive and influential work in rock music. Already well versed in several music styles, he was a seasoned performer by age 16. With hits such...
K.T. Oslin

K.T. Oslin

Kay Toinette Oslin was born in Crossett, Arkansas. Her father, a foreman at a paper mill, died when she was five years old. After his death, Oslin and her mother moved to Houston, Texas. Oslin attended Lon Morris College, where she majored in drama. She also performed...