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2002

10 x 7 in.
206 pp., 140 duotones, 1 CD

Out of print

 
 
 
     

Texas Trilogy
Life in a Small Texas Town

Written by Craig D. Hillis, with photos by Bruce F. Jordan

 

 

"Six o'clock silence of a new day beginnin'
Is heard in the small Texas town.
Like a signal from nowhere, the people who live there
Are up and moving around."

Singer-songwriter Steven Fromholz's earliest memories go back to a small Texas town where he spent summers with his grandmother. He gave those memories expression in three songs—"Daybreak," "Trainride," and "Bosque County Romance"—that together form his "Texas Trilogy." This classic folksong has resonated with listeners from its first recording on the 1969 Frummox album From Here to There to Lyle Lovett's recent rendition on his album Step Inside This House.

In this book, Craig Hillis and Bruce Jordan offer their own take on Fromholz's "Texas Trilogy." At the heart of the book are over 140 photographs of Bosque County, Texas, which capture the moods and some of the actual locales mentioned in the songs. Accompanying them are comments from local residents, Fromholz, Hillis, and Jordan, who talk about life "in the small Texas town." In addition to the photos, Fromholz explains how he wrote "Texas Trilogy," and Hillis and Jordan discuss why the song has such enduring meaning. Hillis also provides a history of Bosque County. A digitally remastered CD of the original recording is included in the book.

Guitarist Craig D. Hillis has played and recorded with Steven Fromholz, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphy, and B. W. Stevenson. Currently, he is a freelance writer, a graduate student in Austin, and the Texas music history curator at the New Braunfels Museum of Art and Music. Bruce F. Jordan is a freelance photographer based in Austin. His upcoming projects will continue to document the culture of the Southwest, as well as social issues.

Number Seven, Jack and Doris Smothers Series in Texas History, Life, and Culture

 Of Related Interest Alden and Blackstock, The Best of No Depression
Corcoran, All Over the Map
Hudson, Telling Stories, Writing Songs

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