Music can tell the story of land as well as any photograph or written word, and more so when the music is born from the land itself. This is never truer than with the regional music spawned along both sides of the river that runs through the Big Bend.
When I was a small boy, that music provided for the majority of our self-grown entertainment. Be it norteño in nature or pure Tejano, or of the cowboy ballads and songs from north of the Rio Grande, each style is as native to this country as that river, the mountains, and the desert.
The resulting mix is uniquely ours, and many who come from here listen to all varieties with equal enthusiasm as well as some sentiment. Be we Texan, Mexican, or often enough a blend of both, it is where we come from.
Marcia Daudistel and Bill Wright have joined forces to tell this still-evolving story, and they tell it well. A book several years in the making, Marcia’s written words, and Bill’s photography combine to illustrate a slice of the Big Bend that many do not consider, but which figures prominently into so many of our lives.
These two are not only people of talent who have worked on acclaimed books about the Big Bend before but were also instrumental in helping a would-be writer get his start. His name is Ben H. English, and I can never thank them enough for their many kindnesses.
They will have a signing in Alpine at Front Street Books on Thursday, April 7th at 6pm and the Jeff Davis County Library on Friday, April 8th at 6 pm.
I hope that you can attend to give them their proper due.
God bless to all,
Ben
Ben H. English
Alpine, Texas
USMC: 1976-1983
THP: 1986-2008
Author of ‘Yonderings’ (TCU Press)
‘Destiny’s Way’ (Creative Texts Publishers)
‘Out There: Essays on the Lower Big Bend’ (Creative Texts Publishers)
‘The Uvalde Raider’ (Creative Texts Publishers)
Facebook: Ben H. English
Webpage: benhenglish.com
‘Graying but still game’
Front Street Books
Jeff Davis County Library
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