Texas Swing
Hannah Alexander
What are the origins of Texas swing and how has it impacted society?
Texas Swing (a.k.a. Western Swing) was born in 1933 With Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Bob Wills started playing for small parties in the Panhandle of Texas with his friend Herman Arnspiger. The duo broke up later and Bob Wills formed the band that made him famous, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. This was the birth of Texas Swing and a new style of music. The style is influenced by jazz, blues, country, spirituals, Tex-mex and cajun influences. Texas swing is all inclusive because it has roots from many cultures and styles.
Texas Swing brings people together because it was used as dancing music. On the weekends the furniture in living rooms would be cleared to make room to dance. The majority of the musicians were farmers within the community that played and were very rarely were learned musicians. Dancers would dance to a range of instrumental ensembles ranging from a fiddle and guitar to a string band. The genre of music influenced country music and caused it to have the sound that it does today.