'Oxford American' Waltzes Across Texas

By NPR Staff

Published December 6, 2014 at 1:03 AM CST

Willie Nelson, seen performing in the U.K. in 1980, is one of the featured artists in <em>Oxford American</em>'s Southern Music issue about Texas. — Willie Nelson, seen performing in the U.K. in 1980, is one of the featured artists in *Oxford American*'s Southern Music issue about Texas.

A scholarly literary magazine is celebrating the music of Texas — but don't let that academic approach get in the way of enjoying it.

Bob Wills, Buddy Holly, Freddy Fender, Lee Ann Womack, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Winter, Spoon — even some urbane jazz from Ornette Coleman. Songs from them and more appear on a CD that accompanies the Oxford American Southern Music issue released this month.

"In the Texas issue, I really wanted to focus on it being a place of origin," Oxford music editor Rick Clark tells NPR's Scott Simon. "I wanted most all of the music to be recorded by artists, musicians, from Texas, and I wanted a very strong sense of place. ... The interesting thing about Texas is that, to this day, you can hear just about anything that emanates from that state, and you can put a finger on a map. And you can't say that about a lot of things, you know?"

Hear the full segment at the audio link, including Clark's rundown of several songs included on the CD.