It can be hard for any person to retain anonymity nowadays, let alone a musical artist, but that's exactly how Unknown Mortal Orchestra introduced itself. In 2010, UMO's song "Ffunny Ffrends" popped up online, going viral in a matter of months. Bloggers and fans scrambled to find out who the creators were, to no avail. Finally, a musician named Ruban Nielson unmasked himself and claimed he was the man responsible. Unknown Mortal Orchestra's self-titled debut came in 2011, and even the music itself is somewhat mysterious. Positioned somewhere between psychedelia, funk, and glam, the LP is a world in itself....
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This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a musical pioneer who drew inspiration from a barroom brawl. Al Dexter died in Lewisville, Texas, on January 28, 1984. Born in Jacksonville, Texas, in 1902, he gained popularity writing songs describing his experiences in East Texas nightclubs. In 1936, Dexter released “Honky-Tonk Blues,” the first country record to use the term honky-tonk in its title. In that song and others, he described the rough-and-tumble nightlife found in many Texas beer joints. In 1943, Al Dexter wrote what would become his biggest hit after witnessing a jealous woman brandishing a gun while chasing her...
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