Essays

Moseying: Living La Vida Llanero

The Llano Estacado makes a person want to sing
February 6, 2011

"Texas music is the best! It is so diverse," my wife kept telling me.  She took us to Gruene Hall to listen to Lyle Lovett, and to the Bugle Boy Listening Room in LaGrange to listen to Vince Bell and Denice Francke and  to see a film on the Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant where Lovett, Nanci Griffith and many other Texas musicians "honed their chops." The listening room or house concert concept has been growing in recent years. Small audiences are able to enjoy an intimate experience with a performer, where audiences not only truly listen  but have the chance to interact with the performer.

After the trips I told some of the Sibley Nature Center Board of Directors about the experiences.  We "got to wondering" – are there singer songwriters of the Llano Estacado, and if so, what music do they play?  In what ways does "Place" play a role in shaping music?

I want to believe that our bioregional homeland, the plains of the Llano Estacado, played a subconscious role in the development of four styles of modern music. Western swing (Bob Wills and others) originated at the edge of the Llano Estacado. Rock and roll has strong roots here – Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison are the most famous, and Elvis Presley had his first sold out concerts here, which led to his performances on the Louisiana Hayride where fame found him. Outlaw country music, with Waylon Jennings and Guy Clark, also has strong roots in West Texas. The new genre "norteño rock" was trailblazed by Los lonely Boys, and is being taken up by other bands.

All four styles are synthesizations, created from the mixing of varied styles. And, since I am an outre Llanero chauvinist, I want to believe that our bioregional homeland, the plains of the Llano Estacado, played a subconscious role in the development of those styles. Think about it; when you live on a land that is almost flat, without hardly a tree to be seen, with the wind whirling up sandstorms, and you hear coyotes howling in the vast empty spaces, the products of imagination play a greater role in developing a personal identity. Every experience becomes distilled and refined, because the unconscious intuitively processes the lesson of the plains – a person is but a dust mote, dwarfed by immensity. In some, the sensation breeds fear, but others are given confidence. And it seems for many people, the Llano Estacado makes a person want to sing!

Three  websites do a great job of documenting West Texas Music.  Lubbock has a long history of producing musical talent and in recent years the Buddy Holly Center has been actively preserving and promoting West Texas Music. Chris Oglesby presents  a tremendous website, as well as a wonderful book.  Sid Holmes has the website West Texas Music Hall of Fame.  It is amazing the number of "native" musicians that have released records).  Last year Holmes was able to display the collection of memorabilia for six months in Abilene, but has yet to find a permanent home. We also discovered a blog on West Texas music.

After reviewing all of the available material, some of our board members are now discussing the possibility of developing a " house concert" series here at the Sibley Nature Center.  We are interested in all forms of music – folks, rock, norteno, blues – anybody " letting her rip," singing original songs that draw upon the Llano Estacado for inspiration. We hope to eventually provide links to videos of the songs of Llaneros.

For such a project to work, we would need to have a set number of sponsors and supporters willing to donate money to create a reserve fun with which to pay performers (not only a performance fee, but also expenses). The Sibley Nature Center's auditorium holds 80 people comfortably and our pavilion and firepit area can also hold that number of people.  If you have an interest in helping out, please contact me at bwilliams@sibleynaturecenter.org. Since the project would host performers of many genres, a "Support West Texas Group" could grow beyond the limitations of the venue. If anyone is interested in becoming one of the organizers and schedulers, we would also love to hear from you!