BROWNWOOD – October 12, 2021 – The Howard Payne University School of Music and Fine Arts invites the public to a concert with Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys and the Heart of Texas All-Star Jazz Band on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. in Mims Auditorium. The unique concert will fuse country and jazz music, featuring songs from Nashville, Hollywood and New York, all with Texas roots.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.hputx.edu/jodynix. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit music scholarships at HPU.
The concert will include arrangements of classic songs such as “Strike Up the Band,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “On the Road Again,” “South of the Border,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “San Antonio Rose,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Orange Blossom Special,” “Bugle Call Rag” and “Milk Cow Blues.”
Stephen Goacher, professor of music at HPU, said the concert will bring together two influential genres of American music.
“In the 20th century, two great traditions of distinctly American music developed,” said Goacher. “One was from the farmlands and rural communities, and it spoke of the joy and heartbreak country life offered. The other was from the cities, and it spoke of the joy and heartbreak urban life offered. Of course, we recognize these distinctly American styles of music as country and jazz. Both country and jazz are equally sincere and both are equally persuasive. The country jazz fusion concert will show how both jazz and country sprang from the same Texas roots and how both genres share many musical values. Both country and jazz are part of our culture right here in Brownwood. Our concert will remind us that to experience country and to experience jazz is to experience what it means to be both a Texan and an American.”
The Heart of Texas All-Star Jazz Band is comprised of professional musicians, many of whom serve as professors at Texas universities, from Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Wichita Falls, Stephenville, Abilene, San Angelo and Brownwood.
Jody Nix is a Texas music icon who has been performing for more than 60 years. He has 11 albums to his credit and was a guest artist on Asleep At The Wheel’s two Bob Wills tribute albums. He has taken the stage at numerous rodeos, dances and country music festivals, and was awarded a Western Heritage Wrangler Award by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
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Cutline: Jody Nix (center) and the Texas Cowboys will perform with the Heart of Texas All-Star Jazz Band at a concert fusing country and jazz music on Oct. 21 at HPU.