"Juneteenth Texas" explores African-American folkways and traditions from both African-American and white perspectives. Included are descriptions and classifications of different aspects of African-American folk culture in Texas; explorations of songs and stories and specific performers such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Manse Lipscomb, and Bongo Joe; and a section giving resources for the further study of African Americans in Texas.

Native American drumming and chant; Czech and German polka; country fiddling; African American spirituals, blues and jazz; cowboy songs; Mexican "corridos"; zydeco; and the sounds of a Cambodian New Year's celebration -- all are part of the amazing cultural patchwork of traditional music in Texas. In "Everyday Music," author and researcher Alan Govenar brings readers face-to-face with the stories and memories of people who are as varied as the traditions they carry on.

From 1983 to 1988, Alan Govenar traveled more than 35,000 miles around Texas, interviewing, recording, and photographing the vast cultural landscape of the state. In "Everyday Music," he compares his experiences then with his attempts to reconnect with the people and traditions that he had originally documented. Stopping at gas stations, restaurants, or street-corner groceries in small towns and inner-city neighborhoods, Govenar asked local residents about local music and musicians. What he found on his road trip around the state--and what he shares in the pages of this book -- are the time-honored songs, tunes, and musical instruments that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Govenar invites you to accompany him on his journey -- one that will forever change the way you look at the traditional music that is such an important part of our everyday lives.

"Everyday Music" is accompanied by a special online resource (www.everydaymusiconline.org) with video clips, recorded interviews, and performances. The site also features special resources for teachers who want to bring this rich cultural experience into their classrooms and for general readers who simply want to know more.

Table of Contents:

Introduction 1
Julius Vita: Czech Accordion, Seymour 9
John Burrus: Cowboy Songs and Country Hymns, Stephenville 18
Osceola Mays: Spirituals and Poems, Dallas 30
Howard Dee "Wes" Westmoreland III: Fiddling, Gustine 40
Miguel Pedraza: Tigua Drumming and Chanting, El Paso 51
Alexander H. Moore: Barrelhouse Blues, Dallas 62
W. W. Trammell: Guitar Maker and Musician, Lone Star 73
Lydia Mendoza: "Boleros," "Corridos," and "Rancheras," Houston 83
Original Oompah Band: German Dance Music, Tivydale 96
John Henry "Bones" Nobles: Bones Percussion, Beaumont 107
Yani Rose Keo: Cambodian Music and Dance, Houston 117
Appendix: "Traditional Music in Texas "Radio Series 129
Acknowledgments 131
For Further Reading, Listening, and Viewing 133
Index 137

Texas Blues allows artists to speak in their own words, revealing the dynamics of blues, from its beginnings in cotton fields and shotgun shacks to its migration across boundaries of age and race to seize the musical imagination of the entire world.Fully illustrated with 495 dramatic, high-quality color and black-and-white photographs - many never before published - ""Texas Blues"" provides comprehensive and authoritative documentation of a musical tradition that has changed contemporary music. Award-winning documentary filmmaker and author Alan Govenar here builds on his previous groundbreaking work documenting these musicians and their style with the stories of 110 of the most influential artists and their times.From Blind Lemon Jefferson and Aaron ""T-Bone"" Walker of Dallas, to Delbert McClinton in Fort Worth, Sam ""Ligntnin'"" Hopkins in East Texas, Baldemar (Freddie Fender) Huerta in South Texas, and Stevie Ray Vaughan in Austin, ""Texas Blues"" shows the who, what, where, and how of blues in the Lone Star State.