This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll remember an accordion player who squeezed a lot of music into one lifetime. Lee Roy Matocha died on July 12, 2003. Nicknamed the “Fayetteville Flash,” Matocha was born on August 2, 1932, in Plum, Texas. He began playing accordion professionally at the age of fourteen. In 1964, he formed the Lee Roy Matocha Orchestra, which became one of the most popular Czech bands in Texas.

Austin favorite Jimmy Lafave--the Texas-born, Oklahoma-raised singer-songwriter--knows a thing or two about Woody Guthrie. Over the years, he's helped organize the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie's hometown. He's also been entrusted to put music to some 25 unfinished Guthrie songs-- a daunting honor to say the least. In a recent conversation with Texas Music Matters, Lafave discussed the centennial of Woody Guthrie's birth (July 14, 2012), making a case for a deeper appreciation of the great American songsmith. Listen to the complete conversation below. And make sure you tune in to KUT Saturday, July 14th during Kevin Connor's show for a broadcast of Nick Spitzer's 2-hour documentary on Woody Guthrie....
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