Dance HallsTexas

  In singing about Texas Dance Halls, Vance Lane joins a time honored tradition. For numberless artists - from clasics like Bob Wills, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly, Ray Price and George Strait, to contemporary country performers - dance halls heve been a vital inspiration and these halls are an essential part of Texas Music that is known all over the world today. Dance halls nurtured and inspired Texas music. They were the home where western swing, honky tonk, tejano and conjunto music were born. Dance halls across the Lone Star State were early venues for European popular music such as German, Polish and Czech polka and waltz styles in the 1800's, and they nurtured cajun and zydeco, the blues and American jazz in their infancy as well. Texas music is a melting poit of ethnic styles and it was in the dance halls that all of these disparate traditions came together and recombined to become strands of country, blues, rock & roll and tejano that we know today.
   In early Texas settlements, dance halls were often among the first buildings to be raised. Many of the early wood halls still survive today as living testaments to the will and determination to prevail against all odds that characterized the early settlers. Just as there were many varieties of music, there were many types of halls. They were commonly built as social clubs and supplied an important focal point for communities that settled and spread out over miles and miles of Texas. Some were built as shooting societies, singing socieities, fitness or beef clubs. planting and harvesting organizations or where the community could dance and celebrate on Saturday nights after all the work was done. So, it's no exaggeration to say that Texas dance halls areas important as the music that permeates their walls. The dance halls are pillars of Texas tradition and central to the way life that makes our state so unique and so well known worldwide. Texas music and Texas dance halls are like barbecue and cold beer - you just can't have one without the other or, at the very least, they sure tast better together.
  Now, about Vance's music! Vance has written a song that's very much in the tradition of Texas country music and it's a perfect fit for these historic venues. As we say in Texas, "it's as fine as cream gravy." In Texas, we are still proud to keep it country and dance the Texas Two Step. The sounds of a Texas shuffle with twin fiddles make these halls smile and keeps the dance floor full.
  In his song, "Texas Two Step," Vance tells us about historic Texas halls like Shroeder, Luckenbach, Gruene and Cheatham Street. These are wonderful places that you shouls visit and where you can do some two-steppin' yourself. If you want more information on the hundreds of halls across the state, please visit www.texasdancehall.org, the website of Texas Dancehall Preservation, an organization dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of these historic structures.

Thanks for listening!
Steve Dean

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