Texas Honky-Tonk
tagStarted 1945Peak 1947–1965; 1995–presentLast big hit still active
Texas honky-tonk emphasizes shuffle rhythms, dancehall pacing, steel guitar, Telecaster twang, and vocals that swing as much as they ache. Compared with Bakersfield, it usually gives a little more room to piano and shuffle motion, and compared with Nashville, it politely refuses to be upholstered.
History
Texas was crucial to postwar honky-tonk through artists such as Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman, Ray Price, Lefty Frizzell, and George Jones. Later revivalists like Dale Watson, Jake Hooker, and younger traditionalists kept Texas dancehall logic alive as both historical inheritance and living scene practice.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- TSHA
- Texas Almanac
- honky-tonk histories