List of Texas blues musicians

Texas Blues is a subgenre of the blues, and of course is not limited to Texas-based musicians. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles. Texas blues differs from styles such as Chicago blues in use of instruments and sounds, especially the heavy use of the guitar. Musicians such as Stevie Ray Vaughan contributed by using various types of guitar sounds like southern slide guitar and different melodies of blues and jazz. Texas blues also relies on guitar solos or "licks" as bridges in songs. Below is a list of Texas blues musicians.

A Alger "Texas" Alexander – (September 12, 1900 – April 16, 1954) Born in Jewett, Texas, Alexander was a country blues singer who was one of the original forebears of Texas blues music. He never did learn to play guitar, though he was backed by such artists as Lonnie Johnson and Lightnin' Hopkins. He also did singing gigs for King Oliver. Over his impressive career, he recorded for Okeh Records and Freedom Records, among others.

B Lou Ann Barton – (born February 17, 1954) Born in Austin, Texas, Barton is a blues-rock and Texas blues singer who has performed with artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. She has released at least seven albums starting in the 1980s for labels like Discovery Records and Catfish Records. Black Boy Shine (c. September 12, 1908 – March 28, 1952) Born in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, he was a pianist, singer and songwriter. Little is known of his life outside of his recording career. He was part of the "Santa Fe Group", a loose ensemble of black blues pianists who played in the many juke joints abutting the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Black Boy Shine recorded almost twenty tracks between 1936 and 1937 for Vocalion and Melotone Records. Black Ivory King – (November 25, 1899 – November 17, 1947) Born in Stamps, Arkansas, he was another "Santa Fe Group" pianist and singer. He recorded four tracks for Decca Records in 1937. Zuzu Bollin – (September 5, 1922 – October 2, 1990) Born in Frisco, Texas, he recorded "Why Don't You Eat Where You Slept Last Night," "Headlight Blues" and "Stavin' Chain" / "Cry, Cry, Cry". Juke Boy Bonner – (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) Born in Bellville, Texas, as Weldon Bonner, Bonner was a Texas blues and West Coast blues guitarist and blues harp player as well as a vocalist. Though based primarily in Texas for most of his career, he did work in the 1950s in Oakland, California, and recorded there for Irma Records. Like so many of the early blues musicians, Bonner was forced to work in a meat processing plant in his later career just to make ends meet. He performed in both acoustic and electric blues environments. Andy Boy – (November 10, 1904 – unknown) Born in Galveston, Texas, Boy was a pianist and songwriter. He was part of the "Santa Fe Group". Doyle Bramhall – (February 17, 1949 – November 12, 2011) Born in Dallas, Texas, Bramhall is strictly a Texas blues musician, a guitarist, drummer and singer who worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmie Vaughan. His son, Doyle Bramhall II is also a blues musician. He has released several solo albums.Dansby, Andrew (Sunday, November 13, 2011) "Texas bluesman Bramhall dies at 62". Houston Chronicle. November 12, 2011 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown – (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was one of the regulars of the Texas blues scene. A multi-instrumentalist, he performed on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, bass guitar, violin and sang. Brown was the first artist to record for Peacock Records, and his style of play was influential on burgeoning talent in Texas. Later in his career he moved more away from acoustic modes of play in favor of electric blues, often fusing in his sound elements of calypso and zydeco. Pinetop Burks – (August 7, 1907 – January 11, 1947) Born near Richmond, Texas, Burks was a pianist and songwriter. He was part of the "Santa Fe Group".

C Ezra Charles – (born June 17, 1944) Born in Texarkana, Texas, as Charles Helpinstill. Singer, pianist, songwriter, bandleader from Houston. He had his start performing with Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter in Beaumont. Leader of Thursday's Children, seminal rock band from Houston in the 1960s. Invented the Helpinstill Piano Pickup in 1972. Led Ezra Charles and the Works band from 1983–present, now called Ezra Charles' Texas Blues Band. Gary Clark, Jr. – (born February 15, 1984) is a musician from Austin, Texas. In 2020, he won the Grammy Award for "Best Rock Song" and "Best Rock Performance" for the song "This Land" from his album of the same name.Grammy Winners List 2020 by Zoe Haylock, Vulture.com, January 27, 2020. W. C. Clark – November 16, 1939 – March 2, 2024) Born in Austin, Texas, Clark was one of the originators of blues in the city of Austin. A soul music singer and electric Texas blues guitarist, he had his start performing with T.D. Bell. He also can be seen performing onstage with Stevie Ray Vaughan for a 1980s episode of Austin City Limits. Following a tragic car wreck in 1997 that resulted in the death of his fiance and drummer, Clark has slowed down on touring and recording. First aired in 1990. Arnett Cobb – (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989) Born in Houston, Texas, Cobb is most remembered as a jazz tenor saxophonist, though his contributions to Texas blues and other sounds like New York blues and jump blues should not be taken lightly. He is the person who discovered James Brown and, in his later years, he led his own band called Texas Jazz and Blues.Stephen G. Williams and Kharen Monsho, "Cobb, Arnett Cleophus", Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 3 July 2013. Albert Collins – (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) Born in Leona, Texas, Collins was one of the true greats of the Texas blues scene. An original songwriter, as well as an accomplished guitarist and singer, Collins performed with some of the best musicians the state of Texas had to offer. He released many recordings over his career, and enjoyed renewed appreciation for his art during the blues revival of the 1960s. Rob Cooper was a pianist and songwriter. He was part of the "Santa Fe Group". In 1934, he was the first of that "Santa Fe Group" to record, and is best known as one of Joe Pullum's piano accompanists. Cooper played on a number of tracks between 1934 and 1936, for recordings issued by Bluebird and Victor. Johnny Copeland – (March 27, 1937 – June 3, 1997) Born in Haynesville, Louisiana, Copeland was both an acoustic and electric Texas blues guitarist and vocalist who only enjoyed real success late in his career during the 1990s. He recorded numerous solo albums, many for Rounder Records. Pee Wee Crayton – (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985) Born in Rockdale, Texas, Crayton was a frequent member of the Texas blues scene. Both an acoustic and electric blues guitarist and singer, he also performed rhythm and blues and West Coast blues when moving to Los Angeles, California in 1935. He recorded at least nine albums over his career, in addition to collaborations with other artists. Among the labels he worked for were Crown Records and Charly Records, among others.

D James "Thunderbird" Davis – (November 10, 1938 – January 24, 1992) Born in Prichard, Alabama, United States, Davis recorded several singles for Duke Records in the early 1960s, enjoying moderate success with "Blue Monday" (1963). Dropping from public attention, his career was revived in 1989 with the release of his album, Check Out Time. Larry Davis – (December 4, 1936 – April 19, 1994) Born in Kansas City, Missouri, but raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Davis was an acoustic and electric Texas blues and soul blues musician who was greatly influenced by Albert King. He recorded often with Fenton Robinson. He released albums for many labels, including Bullseye Blues, Duke Records, and many others. Chris Duarte – (born February 16, 1963) Born in San Antonio, Texas, Duarte is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Duarte plays a style of Texas blues-rock that draws on elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll. Omar Kent Dykes – (born Kent Dykes, 1950, McComb, Mississippi, United States) Dykes is a blues guitarist and singer, living in Austin, Texas.

E Robert Ealey – (December 6, 1925 – March 8, 2001) Born in Texarkana, Texas, he was a singer. Among other releases, he recorded a couple of albums for Black Top Records in the 1990s, having earlier formed a duo with U.P. Wilson.

F The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Formed in 1974 in Austin, Texas, by Jimmie Vaughan and others, this group played the gamut of music. They perform blues-rock, Texas blues and rock and roll. Vaughan left the group in 1990. Guy Forsyth – (born November 30, 1968). Born in Denver, Colorado, Forsyth is a guitarist, singer, harmonica player, interpreter and songwriter. He was a member of Asylum Street Spankers and has released 12 albums to date. Denny Freeman – (August 7, 1944 – April 25, 2021). Born in Orlando, Florida, Freeman was a Texas blues electric guitarist, pianist and organist. He collaborated with both Vaughan Brothers, playing on Jimmie Vaughan's Strange Pleasure and played with Stevie Ray Vaughan in The Cobras. He also played with Lou Ann Barton, Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band. Lowell Fulson – (March 31, 1921 – March 6, 1999). Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fulson was an innovator who performed guitar and sang in a variety of blues-based genres, particularly soul-blues, electric Texas blues and West Coast blues, as well as urban blues. He performed with musicians like Alger "Texas" Alexander, and also had a long recording career releasing many solo albums. Anson Funderburgh – (born November 14, 1954). Born in Plano, Texas, Funderburgh is a guitarist and has been the bandleader of Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets since 1978.

G Grady Gaines – (May 14, 1934 – January 29, 2021) Born in Waskom, Texas, Gaines is an electric Texas blues and jazz blues tenor saxophonist who recorded with Little Richard in the 1950s. He also backed other musicians such as Clarence Hollimon, Joe Medwick and James Brown. He released a few records for Black Top Records. Roy Gaines – (August 12, 1937 – August 11, 2021) Born in Waskom, Texas, Gaines was a protege of T-Bone Walker, he regularly played clubs throughout the Houston area before relocating to Los Angeles. He joined Roy Milton's band, followed by supporting Chuck Willis. His debut album, Gaineling (1982) was followed several others. Billy Gibbons – Guitarist for ZZ Top and solo performer. Diunna Greenleaf – (born October 6, 1957) Born in Houston, Texas, Greenleaf has issued four albums to date and, at the 2014 Blues Music Awards, she won the Koko Taylor Award.

H Harmonica Slim – (December 21, 1934 – June 16, 1984), was an American blues harmonicist, singer and songwriter. Andrew "Smokey" Hogg – (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) Born in Westconnie, Texas, Hogg began his career as a rhythm and blues musician. An acoustic and electric guitarist, singer and pianist, Hogg performed with musicians in Texas like Black Ace. Lightnin' Hopkins – (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) Born Sam Hopkins in Centerville, Texas, Hopkins was an acoustic and electric guitarist and a major exponent of Texas blues. During his late career he performed mostly on electric guitar, though in the same manner that he would perform on an acoustic one. Like John Lee Hooker, Hopkins is one of the better known blues musicians of history. Joe "Guitar" Hughes – (September 29, 1937 – May 20, 2003) Born in Houston, Texas. One of the unsung heroes of the Texas blues scene, Hughes was an acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist. He performed with Bobby "Blue" Bland in the 1960s and released a series of solo albums in the late 1980s and 1990s, for labels including Black Top Records and Double Trouble Records.