Journal of Texas Music History | Volume 13

Craig Hillis, Ph.D.
is the author of Texas Trilogy: Life in a Small Texas Town (University of Texas Press, 2002). He has written for the Journal of Texas Music History and other music and history publications. Hillis played guitar and recorded with Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, Steven Fromholz, and other prominent artists. He has recently published an in-depth guitar instruction book, The Matrix Manual for Guitar, and is currently working on a book about the “ruthlessly poetic” songwriters of Texas, as well as a book on the Austin music scene of the 1970s.

Mike Hooker
is a lifelong music collector who has owned or worked in record stores for nearly 20 years. In addition to running a reissue record label, he writes a blog spotlighting obscure records from his own personal collection, especially recordings by Texas artists. For years, Hooker has been researching the punk scene throughout Texas. His archive includes thousands of posters, records, fanzines, and other artifacts from the early punk rock era.

Alex La Rotta
has an M.A. in History with a focus on Texas music. An avid record collector and deejay, he managed the online database on Texas musicians at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute for Texan Cultures. He also worked as a sound engineer for the PBS television series, Austin City Limits. His chapter, “Música Tejana Recording Pioneers,” will appear in the Texas Folklore Society’s forthcoming book, Cowboys, Cops, Killers and Ghosts: Legends and Lore in Texas, scheduled to be published by the University of North Texas Press in November 2013. La Rotta plans to pursue a Ph.D. in music history.

Lowell Mick White, Ph.D.
is a former Dobie-Paisano Fellow and the author of the novels Professed and Tat Demon Life. He is an Assistant Professor of English at Pittsburg State University, where he teaches creative writing and literature.