AUSTIN, Texas, May 26, 2022 — The Texas Heritage Songwriters Association (TxHSA) is pleased to announce its 2023 Hall of Fame class of inductees: Alejandro Escovedo, Gary P. Nunn, Radney Foster, Rodney Clawson and W.C. Clark.
The 2023 TxHSA Hall of Fame Weekend will return to Austin on February 24-25, 2023, celebrating the songwriting achievements of its latest class of inductees.
A VIP sponsor-only DKR Pickin’ Party at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum will kick off the weekend on Friday, February 24, 2023. Saturday’s public Hall of Fame Awards Show will both honor and celebrate these new honorees, bringing them into the spotlight and inducting them into the TxHSA Hall of Fame. Sponsors and patrons can expect a weekend celebration packed with performances and appearances from past inductees, Grammy Award winners, renowned songwriters, and recording artists.
Born in San Antonio, 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 soul in his lyrics as he is to display some serious rock & roll swagger, Escovedo had already played an important role in punk (with the Nuns), roots rock (the True Believers), and alt-country (Rank & File) before he launched a solo career that’s seen him work with everyone from Tony Visconti, John Cale to Bruce Springsteen
As a founding father of the progressive country music scene in Austin, Texas in the 1970’s, 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 for the state of Texas, singing about his love of everything Texas in dance halls around the state and on concert stages around the world. His extraordinary gifts as a prolific songwriter and performer have established Gary P. Nunn as an icon of Lone Star music and earned him the respect of his peers and the admiration of countless country music fans worldwide.
Radney Foster established himself as a solo artist in the early 90’s with his critically acclaimed release Del Rio, Texas 1959. Foster has written eight number one hit singles. His discography contains countless cuts by artists ranging anywhere from country (Keith Urban, The Chicks, Brooks and Dunn, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) to contemporary (Marc Broussard, Hootie & The Blowfish, Kenny Loggins, Los Lonely Boys, George Benson) and his songs have sold 50 million copies worldwide. A friend and mentor to Texas musicians, he has written and produced songs for and with Guy Clark, Jack Ingram, Randy Rogers, Cory Morrow, Sunny Sweeney, Roger Creager, Pat Green, Josh Abbott, Cody Johnson, Lee Roy Parnell, William Beckmann, Wade Bowen, Deryl Dodd, and many others. He produced the first three Randy Rogers Band albums, and they recently reunited to produce Homecoming.
Born in Gruver, Texas, Rodney Clawson left his farming career in Gruver to become a full time songwriter. The work ethic created from farming helped him become a successful songwriter. Clawson co-wrote “Amarillo Sky” for Jason Aldean in addition to 24 other #1 songs. In 2008, he received Country Music Association’s Single of the Year for George Strait’s “I Saw God Today” and has won BMI and NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year multiple times.
W.C. Clark was born into a musical family in Austin, Texas. His father played guitar and his grandmother, mother, and sisters all sang gospel in the church choir. “I had so much music in my soul,” Clark recalls, “all I had to do was pick up an instrument and play it. Clark eventually become the bass player in the Triple Threat Revue with Stevie Ray Vaughan. While playing in Triple Threat Revue, Clark and keyboardist Kindred co-wrote Cold Shot, which became one of Vaughan’s biggest hits and earned W.C. his first platinum record. Clark went on to win several coveted W.C. Handy Blues Awards for his work. Clark is know as the Godfather of Austin Blues” for his influence on the Austin, Texas blues scene since the late 1960s.
Last year’s inductees included Lefty Frizzell, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mark James and Nanci Griffith. Other past inductees include the likes of Billy Gibbons, Cindy Walker, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, K.T. Oslin, and Townes Van Zandt, to name a few.
A limited number of seats for the 2023 Hall of Fame Awards Show will be made available to the public in January.
Parties interested in sponsorship opportunities should visit texassongwriters.com/sponsorships/ or contact sponsorships@texassongwriters.com.
