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Join us for part two of our series on the rise of the electric guitar in Texas as we explore the life and music of Charlie Christian, America's first electric guitar hero. In this episode we discover how an unknown Jazz guitarist, born in Bonham Texas became not only the new musical voice in Benny Goodman's popular swing band but actually created the template that virtually all guitarists after him would follow. He re-invented not only swing and jazz but laid the foundation for rock and roll as well. Hear the story behind the music of this short lived but eternally relevant Texas icon.

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T-bone Walker didn't invent the electric guitar but was the first to popularize the instrument while playing the blues. In this two-part series, we'll look at the role Texas played in the proliferation of the electric guitar, from its humble beginnings to now. This episode focusses on the life and music of legendary Texas Bluesman T-bone Walker and how his early use of the electric guitar and innovative style inspired just about everyone who came after, from B.B. King and John Lee Hooker to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Besides writing blues classics like Stormy Monday, Mean Old World, and Papa Ain't Salty, T-bone led an amazing life. Hear the whole story and samples of his music, as well as many of the great artists that covered him.

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In this episode, we debut a special theme of Texas Connections, where artists from outside of Texas share a meaningful and notable connection with the Lone Star State. This time, we are looking at the life of Sterling Morrison and the seminal band, the Velvet Underground. Though three of the members were from New York and one from the UK, their unusual story involves a bizarre connection to Texas as Sterling left the band and moved to Texas to become a English professor at the University of Texas and then a Tugboat captain in the Houston Ship Channel. Follow his remarkable life and hear samples of the Velvet Underground's ground breaking music as they become one of the most influential bands of all time.