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Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing Festival

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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Moon Mullican
Moon Mullican Aubrey "Moon" Mullican was born March 29, 1909, in the small east Texas town of Corrigan in Polk County, and passed away...
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Mike Markwardt
6 min read
Spade Cooley
Donnell Clyde Cooley (December 17, 1910 - November 23, 1969), better known as "Spade" Cooley, was an American Western Swing musician, big...
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Mike Markwardt
5 min read
Eldon Shamblin
Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 - August 5, 1998) was the legendary guitarist and lead arranger for Bob Wills' Texas Playboys during the...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Al Stricklin
Al Stricklin was a jazz pianist whose lively playing helped give Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys the band's unique Western Swing flavor....
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Adolph Hofner
This is the story of the timeless King of Texas Hill Country Dance Hall Music - Adolph John Hofner (June 8, 1916 - June 2, 2000). Adolph...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Jimmie Revard
Born in 1909 into a musical Oklahoma family that had fiddled for generations, Jimmie Revard moved to San Antonio, Texas before he became...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Cliff Bruner
Clifton Lafayette Bruner (April 25, 1915 - August 25, 2000), known professionally as Cliff Bruner, was a fiddler and bandleader of the...
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Mike Markwardt
5 min read
Cecil Brower
Born on November 28, 1914, in Bellevue, Texas, Cecil Brower was one of the creative forces behind the early development of Western Swing...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Floyd Tillman
Floyd Tillman (December 8, 1914 - August 22, 2003) was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who, in the 1930s and 40s, helped develop...
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Mike Markwardt
7 min read
Cindy Walker
Cindy Walker (July 20, 1918 - March 23, 2006) was a prolific songwriter of Western Swing, country and popular music, as well as a Western...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Buster Coward
THE TUNE WRANGLERS were an early pioneering Western Swing band organized in the Cowboy ranch country of Bandera, Texas in 1934 by cowpoke...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Bill Boyd
William Lemuel Boyd (Bill Boyd) was born September 29, 1910, and died December 7, 1977. Boyd was a successful early Western Swing...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Roy Newman
Roy Newman was born November 12, 1899 in Santa Anna, Texas, and died February 23, 1981 in Dallas. Nothing is known of Newman's childhood...
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Mike Markwardt
20 min read
Shelly Lee Alley
Shelly Lee Alley (1894-1964), fiddler and western swing pioneer, was born in Alleyton, Texas, on July 6, 1894, the son of John Ross and...
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Mike Markwardt
4 min read
Jesse Ashlock
Jesse Thedford Ashlock (1915-1976), the Texas Jazz Fiddle King, was born on February 22, 1915 in Walker County Texas. He was the youngest...
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Mike Markwardt
4 min read
Leon McAuliffe
William Leon McAuliffe (Jan. 3, 1917 - Aug. 20, 1988) was a Western Swing musician and singer famous for his steel guitar solos with Bob...
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Mike Markwardt
3 min read
Bob Dunn
As good as Milton Brown's Musical Brownies already were in their first 3 years of existence, the Brownies made a quantum leap when Milton...
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Mike Markwardt
17 min read
George Strait
George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is a living legend of Western Swing and Traditional Texas Country music singer, bandleader,...
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Mike Markwardt
2 min read
Jason Roberts
Grammy Award-winning fiddler Jason Roberts brings his authentic style to impressively replicate the music and visual aura of Bob Wills...
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Mike Markwardt
6 min read
Tommy Duncan
Thomas Elmer Duncan (January 11, 1911 - July 25, 1967), better known as Tommy Duncan, was the most important vocalist in the history of...
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