Texas Outlaw

Texas outlaw country mixes honky-tonk, outlaw attitude, road-worn storytelling, and often a little rock-and-folk looseness born of Austin's freer scene. It is rebellious, but usually in a songwriter's way: less cartoon bad-boy posturing, more stubborn refusal to let the suits pick the snare sound.

Willie Nelson's move back to Texas and the Austin scene's growth were catalytic in shaping the outlaw movement's Texan branch. Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and later heirs carried a sound and stance rooted in Texas venues, independence, and songwriter autonomy.