by Jason Guest | Jan 2, 2022
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...
by Jason Guest | Jan 2, 2022
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
Clark’s character-driven songs full of unforgettable images caught the attention of RCA’s Sunbury Music and he moved to Nashville in 1971. The following year, his eponymous album, featuring “L.A. Freeway,” was released and became an FM radio...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
Armed with fourteen carefully-crafted gems, Shamblin decided to try his luck in Nashville. His “story songs” with vivid detail and honest, earthy lyrics quickly caught the ear of the Nashville music establishment. In short order, Randy Travis took...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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”...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
“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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
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...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
Jennings didn’t write many songs, but his music — which combined the grittiest aspects of honky tonk with a rock & roll rhythm and attitude, making the music spare, direct, and edgy — defined hardcore country, and it influenced countless...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
Will Jennings is an American songwriter, who is popularly known for writing the lyrics for “My Heart Will Go On”, the theme for the film Titanic. He has been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and has won several awards including...
by Armada Digital | Feb 5, 2021
Souther was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Amarillo, Texas. As a musician and songwriter, he was greatly influenced in his formative years by fellow Texas rock and roll icon, Roy Orbison. Souther is probably best known for his well-honed songwriting...
