Western Swing - Legacy

Legacy

Western swing influenced genres known as honky-tonk, rockabilly, and country rock.

Moon Mullican, who had performed with Western swing bands, later found more success as a solo artist and his 1940s and 50s hits often were done with a more Western swing than pure country feel.

Western swing was one of the many subgenres to influence rockabilly and rock and roll. Bill Haley's music from the late 1940s and early 50s is often referred to as Western swing, and his band from 1948 to 1949 was named Bill Haley and The 4 Aces of Western Swing.

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Asleep at the Wheel helped make Austin, Texas a major center of Western swing beginning in the 1970s. The annual South by Southwest music festival and the Austin City Limits PBS television series have contributed to this success. Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen were also key players in this revitalization. Western Swing Monthly, based in Austin, is a newsletter for musicians and fans.

In a Clint Eastwood's 1982 movie Honkytonk Man, his character meets Bob Wills (played by Johnny Gimble, an original Texas Playboy), who is recording in a studio with other former band members.

Western swing lives on at the Bobby Boatright Memorial Music Camp in Goree, Texas. (Boatright was a fiddle player originally from Goree.)

In 2011 the Texas Legislature adopted a resolution designating western swing as the official "State Music of Texas".