The Black Pumas guitarist, producer, and songwriter examines the Latin and Tex-Mex elements in Willie’s music, how they got there—and why that makes Willie “the most American thing we have.”

Texas Monthly

29.03.2025

SXSW Is Finally Changing. Is It Too Little, Too Late?

This year’s music fest felt small-time. Next year it will be folded into Film & TV and Interactive. Maybe that’s a good thing. Or maybe it’s a last gasp.

Texas Monthly

29.03.2025

Larry Gatlin on the Wisdom of Letting Willie Nelson Be Lead Dog

The pride of Odessa recalls the New York recording sessions that produced ‘Shotgun Willie,’ ‘The Troublemaker,’ and “She’s Not for You.”

Texas Monthly

29.03.2025

Conor Oberst Recalls the Summer He Discovered Willie Nelson’s Demos

The indie rock, pop, and folk icon on the craft of songwriting, four-track home recordings, and the counterintuitive wisdom of “Undo the Right.”

Texas Monthly

29.03.2025

Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion Remains the “Anti-Festival” Antidote to SXSW

“Just outside of Austin” but worlds away, Luck Ranch’s signature festival has found that big-name performances pair best with unrivaled casual vibes.

Texas Monthly

29.03.2025

Armadillo World Headquarters: Does a 1970s Music Hall Belong in New Austin?

Armadillo World Headquarters, which closed in 1980, was reborn last year. Now, it’s looking for a new permanent home in a very different city.

Texas Monthly

01.03.2025

Charlie Sexton on Willie Nelson’s Real-Deal Jukebox Country Music

The Austin producer, bandleader, and guitar hero discusses the reasons he loves the early sixties demo for “I Let My Mind Wander.”

Texas Monthly

01.03.2025

Bleachers’ Evan Smith, One of “Jersey’s Finest New Yorkers,” Is From Texas

Pop-rock band Bleachers and its front man, Jack Antonoff, are very famously from the Garden State, but Dallas-born saxophonist Evan Smith provides the group with some Texas soul.

Texas Monthly

01.03.2025

Amanda Petrusich on Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson’s ‘Pancho & Lefty’

The acclaimed music critic reframes the duo’s classic 1983 LP as a concept album about easing into middle age.

Texas Monthly

01.03.2025

Academy Awards: How 'Sing Sing''s Oscar-Nominated Ballad Got Made

Abraham Alexander and Black Pumas cofunder Adrian Quesada wrote and recorded “Like a Bird” in Fort Worth and Austin. Now they’re part of Hollywood’s biggest night.

Texas Monthly

12.02.2025

Larry McMurtry’s Grandson Makes Music That Surprises ‘Lonesome Dove’ Fans

Curtis McMurtry writes, records, and performs songs that are more Austin than Archer City.

Texas Monthly

12.02.2025

The Creators of ‘Take It Away’ on Telling the Johnny Canales Story on Film

Filmmakers Adrian Arredondo and Myrna Perez talk about getting to know the man at the heart of Tejano Hollywood’s golden age.

Texas Monthly

12.02.2025

Paul Begala on Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and the Lost Art of Empathy

The CNN political analyst discusses the two legends’ duet “Heartland,” the farm crisis that inspired it, and a kind turn Willie did for his mom.

Texas Monthly

12.02.2025

John Mellencamp Believes Willie Nelson Deserves a Nobel Peace Prize – Texas Monthly

The heartland rocker on the origins of Farm Aid, standing up to record execs, and “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

Texas Monthly

12.02.2025

Grammy Awards 2025: Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Wins Album of the Year

Plus: how Kacey Musgraves, Drake, and more Texas stars fared.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Joaquin Castro on the Power of Celebrating Latino Recording Artists

The San Antonio congressman talks about his relationship to tejano and why recognizing Latino musicians is a matter of national importance.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Big Musicians Are Fans of "Sound Toys" from Brand New Noise

Mick Fleetwood, the Black Keys' Patrick Carney, and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy are just some of the artists drawn to the whimsical recording devices.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Beyoncé, We Love You, but the Saguaro Cactus Does Not Grow in Texas

The icon released a teaser for her NFL Christmas performance in Houston that has the potential to disappoint some Lone Star botanists.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

How Linda Escobar Became the Queen of Conjunto

Tejano music legend Linda Escobar talks about building community around conjunto and taking the music across the world.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Juan Gabriel Is Gone, but the Singer’s Spirit Lives On at a Juárez Museum

Visitors can watch Juanga, as he’s fondly called by millions of fans, as he croons, smiles, sashays, and flirts with the audience.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Eva Ybarra Has an Accordion Lesson for You—If You Can Keep Up

The Queen of the Accordion shares her many musical influences and why she’s never played the way other people want her to.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Terry Allen’s Grandson Calder Steps Into the Family Legacy

Singer-songwriter Calder Allen comes from a family of artists, including outlaw-country musician Terry Allen.

Texas Monthly

03.02.2025

Max Baca on the Many Origins of Tejano Music – Texas Monthly

Grammy winner Max Baca on playing bajo sexto with the Texas Tornados and carrying on conjunto music for the next generation.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

2024: The Year Country Music Broke

This year Beyoncé, Post Malone, and other artists blew the gates off a genre Nashville no longer gets to define.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Audio: Elsa Garcia Was Done With Music, Until the Stage Called Her Back

For 25 years, La Primera Dama del Tejano was sure she’d left singing behind. When she returned, last year, an arena of fans was waiting.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Between Tejano and Texas Country, Sunny Sauceda Is Finding His Own Sound – Texas Monthly

The “rocker trapped in an accordion player’s body” talks about switching genres after forty years in tejano music.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

TM Audio Exclusive: What Música Mexicana Owes to Nineties Tejano

Billboard senior editor Griselda Flores on today’s regional Mexican boom and its deep roots in the golden age of tejano.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Post Malone’s $20,000 Tip Is More Proof He’s Actually a Great Guy

In Houston for the Beyoncé Bowl, the superstar made one server’s Christmas Eve dreams come true.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Inside Nora and Johnny Canales’s Love Story

Thirty years after she met the tejano icon, Johnny Canales’s widow reflects on the couple’s marriage, their show, and how Johnny still sustains her.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Miranda Lambert on Willie Nelson and the Enduring Primacy of the Pickin’ Party

The reigning country queen talks about singing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” as a little girl—and for Willie’s ninetieth birthday.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

How ‘The Johnny Canales Show’ Helped Veronique Medrano Find Her Voice

In this audio exclusive, the musician, artist, and archivist talks about forging a new path in tejano music.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

TM Audio Exclusive: Little Joe on Chasing Dark Clouds Away Through Song – Texas Monthly

Little Joe, the "King of the Brown Sound," looks back at sixty years of recording Chicano music for progress, for healing, and for throwing a party.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Billy Strings on What It’s Like to Play Willie Nelson’s Guitar – Texas Monthly

Billy Strings, of the hottest guitarists alive describes the hole in Trigger, bringing roses to Willie, and a 90-mph live version of “Stay a Little Longer.”

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Inside Story: Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas From the Family"

All about the ultimate Texas holiday song thirty years after its release.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

Beyoncé Has Lost the Top Grammy Award Four Times. Is This Her Year?

‘Cowboy Carter’ is nominated for Album of the Year. If Bey wins, it may be in part because the Recording Academy has some amends to make.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

TM Audio Exclusive: Paula Mejía on the Enduring Influence of Johnny Canales

The author of Texas Monthly’s recent feature on Johnny Canales explains how the golden age of tejano set the stage for today’s música mexicana boom.

Texas Monthly

02.02.2025

“The Star-Spangled Banner” According to Ted Nugent

The Motor City Madman kicked off the 2025 Texas legislative session by playing a few licks on an Austin street corner a block from the Capitol.

Texas Monthly

27.11.2024

TM Audio Exclusive: Eva Ybarra Has an Accordion Lesson for You—If You Can Keep Up

The Queen of the Accordion shares her many musical influences and why she’s never played the way other people want her to.

home›Texas Monthly›Music

Texas Monthly - Music

Mark Seliger on the Song that Informs His Portraits of Willie Nelson

Kinky Friedman’s ‘Poet of Motel 6’ Might Be His Best Album Yet

Adrian Quesada on the Flamenco Heart of Willie Nelson’s ‘Teatro’ – Texas Monthly

SXSW Is Finally Changing. Is It Too Little, Too Late?

Larry Gatlin on the Wisdom of Letting Willie Nelson Be Lead Dog

Conor Oberst Recalls the Summer He Discovered Willie Nelson’s Demos

Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion Remains the “Anti-Festival” Antidote to SXSW

Armadillo World Headquarters: Does a 1970s Music Hall Belong in New Austin?

Charlie Sexton on Willie Nelson’s Real-Deal Jukebox Country Music

Bleachers’ Evan Smith, One of “Jersey’s Finest New Yorkers,” Is From Texas

Amanda Petrusich on Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson’s ‘Pancho & Lefty’

Academy Awards: How 'Sing Sing''s Oscar-Nominated Ballad Got Made

Larry McMurtry’s Grandson Makes Music That Surprises ‘Lonesome Dove’ Fans

The Creators of ‘Take It Away’ on Telling the Johnny Canales Story on Film

Paul Begala on Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and the Lost Art of Empathy

John Mellencamp Believes Willie Nelson Deserves a Nobel Peace Prize – Texas Monthly

Grammy Awards 2025: Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Wins Album of the Year

Joaquin Castro on the Power of Celebrating Latino Recording Artists

Big Musicians Are Fans of "Sound Toys" from Brand New Noise

Beyoncé, We Love You, but the Saguaro Cactus Does Not Grow in Texas

How Linda Escobar Became the Queen of Conjunto

Juan Gabriel Is Gone, but the Singer’s Spirit Lives On at a Juárez Museum

Eva Ybarra Has an Accordion Lesson for You—If You Can Keep Up

Terry Allen’s Grandson Calder Steps Into the Family Legacy

Max Baca on the Many Origins of Tejano Music – Texas Monthly

2024: The Year Country Music Broke

Audio: Elsa Garcia Was Done With Music, Until the Stage Called Her Back

Between Tejano and Texas Country, Sunny Sauceda Is Finding His Own Sound – Texas Monthly

TM Audio Exclusive: What Música Mexicana Owes to Nineties Tejano

Post Malone’s $20,000 Tip Is More Proof He’s Actually a Great Guy

Inside Nora and Johnny Canales’s Love Story

Miranda Lambert on Willie Nelson and the Enduring Primacy of the Pickin’ Party

How ‘The Johnny Canales Show’ Helped Veronique Medrano Find Her Voice

TM Audio Exclusive: Little Joe on Chasing Dark Clouds Away Through Song – Texas Monthly

Billy Strings on What It’s Like to Play Willie Nelson’s Guitar – Texas Monthly

Inside Story: Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas From the Family"

Beyoncé Has Lost the Top Grammy Award Four Times. Is This Her Year?

TM Audio Exclusive: Paula Mejía on the Enduring Influence of Johnny Canales

“The Star-Spangled Banner” According to Ted Nugent

TM Audio Exclusive: Eva Ybarra Has an Accordion Lesson for You—If You Can Keep Up

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