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Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing Festival

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Mike Markwardt
8 min read
Dr. Charles Townsend
"For a guy who started out like I did, America was the land of opportunity. I've come from a West Texas shoeshine boy to Grammy Award...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Shoot Low Sheriff
Shoot Low Sheriff is an authentic Western Swing band based in Dallas, Texas. Inspired by the classic Western Swing bands from over 75...
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Mike Markwardt
7 min read
Hot Club of Cowtown
Since its beginnings in the late 1990s, the star power of Hot Club of Cowtown has continued to rise as its reputation for jaw-dropping...
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Mike Markwardt
5 min read
The Quebe Sisters
With over eighteen years of touring to date, The Quebe Sisters began performing in the small Texas town of Burleson and have successfully...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Kelly Spinks
Kelly Spinks was born and raised in Mullin, Texas, and has been playing professionally since 1991. He is a third generation fiddle player...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Landon Dodd
Landon Dodd was born on August 28, 1974 in Fort Worth, Texas. You could say "honky tonkin" was in his blood. Music has always been a big...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Jeff Woolsey
Jeff Woolsey was raised on Western Swing and traditional country music in the honkytonks, on the North side of Houston, Texas. He spent...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Brady Bowen
Brady Bowen is a multi-talented individual. As a respected World Class cutting horse trainer & rider, a legendary Western Swing fiddler &...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Lucy Dean Record
Lucy Dean Record of Lockney, Texas has spent a long and amazing lifetime in music. She has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fame...
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Mike Markwardt
4 min read
Jimmy Burson
After a long, dusty day of sweating and laboring on his west Texas ranch, Silverton singer, musician and producer Jimmy Burson loves...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Jake Hooker
Jake Hooker was born in 1977 and grew up listening to the sounds of traditional country music and Western Swing through his father's West...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Jody Nix
A true Legend of Western Swing, Jody Nix has thrilled audiences for 57 years. He has played dances and shows across the country and leads...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Ray Benson
Ray Benson (born March 16, 1951) is the front man of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel, as well as an actor, and voice actor. In...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Louise Rowe
Louise Rowe was always the odd one out in the Texas Playboys' band photos: nine musicians, all wearing cowboy boots and royal-blue...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Leon Rausch
Leon Rausch was an authentic Texas Playboy who performed with Bob Wills in the 1950s and 60s, and recorded with Bob on his final album in...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Hoyle Nix
Hoyle Nix, West Texas fiddler, bandleader, and exponent of the BobWills sound, was born to Jonah Lafayette Nix and Myrtle May Brooks Nix...
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Mike Markwardt
5 min read
Johnny Gimble
John Paul "Johnny" Gimble (May 30, 1926 - May 9, 2015) and was considered one of the most important fiddlers in the history of Western...
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Mike Markwardt
4 min read
Hank Penny
Herbert Clayton Penny (September 18, 1918 - April 17, 1992) was an accomplished banjo player and practitioner of Western Swing from...
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Mike Markwardt
5 min read
Smokey Montgomery
Marvin "Junior" "Smokey" Montgomery (1913-2001), banjo player, was born Marvin Dooley Wetter on March 17, 1913, in Rinard, Iowa. Marvin...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Tex Williams
Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 - October 11, 1985) was an American Western Swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois. He is best...
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