You could call Texas music the ultimate hybrid. For the average music fan, it might seem like a stretch to connect Mexican folk music and Czechoslovakian polka to hip-hop. It would be crazy to marry New Orleans jazz with cowboy music and downright outlandish to pair the German accordion with African-American gospel.
But if you connect these musical dots, draw the proper parallels, and get into the minds of a few Texas music pioneers, then you’ve got a good start at piecing together the puzzle that makes up a mosaic of the home-grown sound of the South called “Texas music.”
Listing all the ingredients of this soup is like trying to pack the vast high plains prairie into one Polaroid snapshot. From Native American tribal drums to the crying steel guitars of a George Strait two-step, there so many musical styles from so many Texas cultures that it seems it could take a college course just to get a handle on it. And guess what? Class is in session.
At Texas State University in San Marcos, both undergraduate and graduate students can put a Texas twist on their history degree and tap their toes all the way to a diploma. From a basic Texas music history class to the social and cultural implications of the state’s musical evolution, the school offers a look into the phenomenon and mystique that gives Texas music a colorful past and future.
“I don’t know of any other state that can claim its own music genre,” says Dr. Gary Hartman, a professor at Texas State. Hartman heads the Center for Texas Music History, the music program that researches, classifies, catalogs and gives credibility to understanding the sound of Texas. “Nowhere else will you find the combination of cultural musical influences that you will in Texas. The reason? Texas is quite literally at a cultural crossroads, and our music reflects that.”
Bring up the topic of Texas music and most people think “country.” And true, country is a big part of the sound, but there is so much more. Blues, gospel, jazz, honky tonk, swing, zydeco, polka, tejano, rock and rap are just a few of the genres. And each has fed on, influenced and given birth to others for more than 100 years.
“Conjunto is one that’s a good example,” Dr. Hartman points out. “It’s a form of Mexican folk music that rose up from the border in the early 20th century and blends Mexican mariachi with German accordion and Czech polka. Then it evolved even more by absorbing the sounds of blues, R&B and even rock. It’s a unique blend of all these cultures.”
It was Texas music legend Bob Wills who took the traditional high-plains hillbilly fiddle music (an imported sound from the British Isles) and transformed it into a new brand of country. In the 1930s, jazz was all the rage. But at the time, it was a forbidden sound, because the Anglo population considered jazz the music of African-Americans. Working in the panhandle cotton fields, Wills was intrigued by the music the workers made. He liked the jazz beat and the party-like fun of conjunto.
“Wills took his country roots and blended it with blues and jazz and Czech polka, then threw in a little mariachi, and with that he invented Western Swing,” Hartman says. Wills and his new music launched a career that took him around the world and earned him the name “The King of Western Swing.” Texas rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison both took the same “forbidden” African-American rhythms and morphed them into sounds that made them famous.
Dr. Hartman says the Texas music scene usually has several musicians in the forefront for a few years before tastes change. With each change comes a new take, and a new mixture of Texas sound and culture.
“At one time it was Billy Jo Shaver and Guy Clark,” he explains. “The next generation was Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovette. Now it’s guys like Randy Rogers and Haze Carl and Stoney Larue.”
 And the world beyond the Texas stage is listening. For example, the Austin-based Randy Rogers Band was tagged by Rolling Stone magazine in 2007 as one of their “Top 10 Must-See Acts.”

The Nashville Influence
For some Texas artists, the time comes when they are forced to make a decision: stick with the raw Texas sound that got them noticed, or refine it a little and attempt to appeal to a wider audience. That brings up the most polarizing word in the Texas music industry—Nashville.
“There is an interesting relationship between Texas and Nashville,” Hartman says with a laugh. “A lot of people look at Nashville in a negative light. But honestly, if it were not for Nashville, a lot of Texas artists would have gotten no farther than the corner honky-tonk.” 
Hartman points out that if artists want to stay true to their Texas music roots, it can be a struggle. Artists who fight for and maintain their identity keep core fans happy, and hopefully, add new fans through their Nashville exposure. “George Strait is a good example. George Jones is another. They never cared what was in fashion. They stayed true to their sound,” notes Hartman.
And it has been proven that Nashville record executives can be wrong. “At a time when the Nashville executive said the American public wanted more ‘top 40 country,’ George Strait gave them traditional country, and it was a huge success,” he says. “George Strait is the antithesis of the commercial Nashville acts that come and go. And of course there is Willie Nelson, who truly has always done it his way.”
Waco native Pat Green is a mainstay of Texas music. Some say he defines the sound of Texas music is today. Dr. Hartman agrees. “Pat Green is one of the most genuine Texas artists through and through. He’s been leaning toward Nashville, [but] he’s got to be careful. He doesn’t want to alienate his fan base.”
In 2009, Green had a taste of the Nashville wine and traded it back for a cold, Texas longneck. His ninth album, “What I’m For,” was a departure for him. It shined like a new pickup truck with slick Nashville polish, but his raucous brand of beer-drinking, sing-along anthems was gone.
In April 2010, Green announced he had dropped his record label and was coming back to Texas. As Green’s publicist Melanie Wages said then: “Pat is excited about getting back to his roots. He just didn’t like the direction his career was going.”

Music Defies Classification
New sounds sometimes fail. But even then, good lyrics can live on.
Abilene singer-songwriter Slim Willet attempted to turn the West Texas oil field worker into a hero of the caliber of the cowboy through rough-hewn songs about drilling oil. Needless to say, the song “I’m a Tool Pusher from Snyder” never made the charts.
But another Willet tune, “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes,” proved to be a gusher, and it’s one of the most recorded songs in history. Pat Boone, George Jones, Dean Martin and Perry Como are a few of the 94 known recording artists who have covered the song—a song born in the West Texas oil fields. Texas music legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore said the song become so popular because “it defies classification.” It’s that non-classification that keeps Texas music interesting.
One of the most common forms of cultural preservation is music. In Texas, music preserves our “Texas culture” by combining the best of our diversity. Our music makes Texas and Texans who and what we are today.
Dr. Hartman says he hopes his Center for Texas Music History will help a younger generation understand how Texas music is not just one sound, but a conglomeration of ethnicity, style and rhythms borrowed from many cultures.
“I think Texas music, probably better than anything else, reflects who we are,” points out Hartman. “You can look back to before the Spanish arrived. Music is the way people told stories about their everyday lives. And since then, it is really the same with every single ethnic group that has come to Texas.”
There is a saying among creative types that “there are no new ideas,” just new takes on old ideas and new combinations of everything that has been done before. That pretty much sums up Texas music.
To learn more about The Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University (San Marcos), logon www.txstate.edu/ctmh.