Music History

The Texas Heritage Music Foundation

http://www.texasheritagemusic.org/

Alternative history can drift into music for your students outside the traditonal history corral.

“The Texas Heritage Music Foundation was established in July 1987 to preserve and perpetuate the traditions of Texas music, to examine the background of Texas music, to trace influences and patterns in Texas music and to document the role Texas music has played in society, and to provide free educational programming to the Texas community.”

Susan Pena Favorites: Songs

Susan Peña’s Favorites: Songs in Spanish and English,
[musical CD]. Lyrics and Letra by the Peña-Govea family and guests. San Francisco: http://www.cdbaby.com , 2005. $14.00.

As a child in Marshall, I learned to sing “Un elefante,” go with my father to the “Tamale Man’s Stand” to get supper, and go with my mother to visit the Tejana who had the most wonderful garden. While teaching school in Raymondville, Texas in the 1970’s I was deeply immersed in Tejano culture, the folks, the food, the language, and the music.
This music brings back those days. Susan Peña has family strung from California to the Texas Valley. The dozen bilingual songs and music are a comfortable mix and your body moves easily in rhythm. You’ll hear guitar, trumpet, accordion, mandolin, and other instruments. We have folk classics and original work, e.g., “Elena la ballena,” “Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain,” “The Green Grass Grows All Around,” and “De Colores.” Dancing instructions come in the lyrics booklet with “La Raspa.” Dancing instructions are part of the song in “Las Chiapanecas.” It is an interesting mixture of works for children and adults. The Peña-Goveas perform in public venues of California, and now they perform in my own living room.
http://www.miguelgovea.com susannpena@sbcglobal.net

El Mosquito in My Kitchen - Don Sanders

El Mosquito in My Kitchen.

[musical CD]. Music and lyrics mostly by Don Sanders. Produced by Robbie Parrish & Andy Bradley, recorded at Sugar Hill Studios (Houston). $15.00. http://www.donsanders.net/ djsanders@mindspring.com order through Don or through http://cdbaby.com/cd/donsanders

Don Sanders first got my attention before he started hanging around with a pretty librarian. There he was - performing at a book store, at a festival, and library functions. This was after he had been on the Texas music circuit for quite a while; running with the likes of Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Lyle Lovett and serving on the Kerrville Folk Festival Board. In the 1980’s he turned toward more theatrical venues – schools, theaters, festivals, etc. He emerged as a combined storyteller and folksinger. He was easy and pleasant to enjoy then live, and Sanders’ new mixed lingual CD for children, families, and educators is a toe-tapper and shoulder-roller.
He has others mixing in with guitar, harmonica, drum and block percussion, banjo, jaw harp, and trumpet, with some synthesizing. I may have heard xylophonic sounds.
Of the 14 songs, some are fun (El Mosquito) and others express consolation and support in the parent child relationship. Some are Sanders’ adaptations to older Mexican folk melodies with verses of his own composition. Several songs celebrate the simpler building blocks of childhood – a rainbow, the kitchen, planting a seed, cooperation, ponies, puppies, new shoes, and an adult favorite, naptime. Others allude to cultural heritage – Los Padres de San Francisco and Cowboy Bob.
The CD’s accompanying booklet enables parents to learn the words better to sing along. The six Spanish lyrics are there interpreted. The disk carries an added bonus as a pdf file – tips for children’s activities for each song. Can you make the cow sound “nyo,” buzz like a mosquito, simulate pulling weeds, and count your fingers? Evidently by my experience, Cowboy Don’s work also is excellent song and music to listen to while preparing supper. - WH

Music Business

Diverse Music Business

For the budding musical stars of tomorrow, this government site can be an interesting place to linger.

http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/music/

The Texas Music Office directory of almost 300 Texas based music publishers publish music in these areas (extracted from the phrasing of the directory):

Regional Mexican, Tejano, Valley Groove, Country, Cowboy, Western, Blues, Rock,
Christian, Gospel, Jazz, Classical, Choral, Children's, World Beat, Blues, Americana,
Pop, R&B, Rap, Hip Hop, Folk, Acoustic, Texas, Bluegrass, Patriotic, Handbell, Films,
Dance, Electronic, Polka, Big Band, Latin Pop, Rockabilly, Mariachi, Cajun, Zydeco, Industrial, and Swing.

Eagle and the Snake: Songs - Brian Burns

The Eagle and the Snake: Songs of the Texians.

[musical CD]. By Brian Burns. Palo Pinto Records, 2001-2003. http://www.palodurorecords.com/

Brian Burns expresses some of his favorite Texas culture in his 2003 released album entitled “The Eagles and The Snakes: Songs of the Texians.” The album’s theme is unique in that it unites all Texans in a special chronology including the days our first humans (“Man Walks Among Us”), the times of Mexican Coahuila, the Republic, as well as, Texas today and tomorrow (“The Last Living Cowboy”). This personal Texas musical anthology of ballads, love songs, and a little humor as well, has 15 tracks, 6 of which are by Brian Burns. Lyrics printed as notes are included to deepen your digestion of the grass-roots flavor cultivated by this colorful collection of Texana music. Rev: Morgan Howard, morganhoward03@aggienetwork.com. CD provided by our Florida readers at http://www.danspawn.com/ in Panama City.

Prairie Portrait

A Prairie Portrait.
[CD music]. By Don Edwards, Waddie Mitchell, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, John Giordano, Music Director. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Western Jubilee Recording Co., ca. 2000. $15.00 CD, $10.00 cassette. http://www.westernjubilee.com/ & http://www.fortworthsymphony.com/

The 16 selections are beautifully performed. The strings, reeds, brass, keyboards, and vocals immediately lift your attentiveness and pride and carry you through traditional and original melodies, lyrics, and story-telling. Don describes the production as a melding of classical music, cowboy music, and cowboy poetry wherein they “create yet another dimension on the artistic landscape of the Great American West.” Don does the singing, Waddie, the story-telling. The other 60 folks make moving sounds, while John rides point.
The best instrumentation is “Home on the Range” for the successful projection of sentimentality, but “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” is plainly exciting. Waddie’s “Commutin’” and “Throwback” lay out some common details of cowboy life, but the short “Horses, Dogs, and Cowboys” conveys a more philosophic tone. As for good songs, Don’s “West of Yesterday” playfully tweaks at nostalgic grand gestures. His “Annie Laurie” shares a universal lost love lament. Thanks to the Bass Foundation for their production assistance.
Recommended widely. 2000 Wranger Award.
The meditative nature of much of the cd may lend itself to a calming of the class, much as the cowboys sang their restive herds into quietness. - WH