The Gulf Coast Highway knits together the rich diversity of music and cultures of communities across five states—from Houston, Texas, to Jacksonville, Florida. In this audio series, learn how the diverse styles of blues, choral music, cajun, zydeco, brass band, border music, and gospel meet and mingle in the Gulf Coast region.
Along the Texas-Mexican border in the 19th century, Mexicans, Native Americans, and Anglo-Americans living in the region intermingled with European immigrants looking for new opportunities. The clash and fusion of multiple languages and traditions resulted in a distinct “Tejano” culture. Tejano music is influenced by Mexican storytelling ballads called corridos; accordion-based polkas of norteno music; Anglo-American fiddle music; mariachi bands; Colombian cumbia; and the lively brass section of small, local bands called orquestas‚ not to mention salsa, rock, jazz, blues, funk, and country. Border music also owes its sound to German immigrants who filled dance halls with waltzes, polkas, and the distinctive tones of the accordion. Narciso Martínez was one of the first and most influential accordion players in the border region due to his virtuosic, fast-paced playing. When he brought together the accordion with the bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar) in the 1930s, conjunto music was born.
Texas blues originated in the early 1900s alongside the sweat and tears of Black workers on oilfields, lumber camps, and ranches. After a day of back-breaking labor, workers could unwind in nearby bars or on their own porches and listen to blues musicians who spoke to their own experiences. The Texas sound is known for being more relaxed than other blues styles, with breathier vocals and a swinging feel. Bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson put Texas on the blues map with his jazzy improvisation and percussive way of playing the guitar. Jefferson’s technique of picking along a single string and hammering out repetitive figures in the lower register influenced generations of musicians. After World War II, blues went electric. With the advent of the electric guitar came increased volume and resonance‚ a sought-after sound among recording studios in northern U.S. cities. Although many musicians migrated north to join the booming recording industry, the blues still thrives in Texas today.
Texas has a rich tradition of troubadours‚ or singer-songwriters who write, compose, and sing original songs. Grounded in the folk music tradition, singer-songwriters are recognized for their meaningful lyrics about real-life subjects as varied as social justice and family, war and love. Fueled by a strong sense of Texan identity and tried-and-true imagination, Texas songwriters tend to have a keen sense of place, revealed in the visual details of their lyrics. Texas troubadours Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clarke ushered in the Texas singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s with poetic, emotional lyrics and music shaped by country, blues, folk, and Tex-Mex. Today’s troubadours are also greatly influenced by Willie Nelson’s outlaw country music, a grittier version of the popular country music that was coming out of Nashville at the time. Backed by a tradition of independent spirit and grounded in multicultural roots, Texas singer-songwriters continue to imbue classic musical genres with new experiences and sounds.
Louisiana-based Cajun music has roots in unaccompanied, narrative ballads brought by European settlers. Sung at weddings and funerals as well as informal parties, these ballads told stories of love and death, as well as humor and nostalgia. Traditionally sung in French, Cajun songs fused narrative balladry, Irish and Anglo-American reels and jigs, and Black and Native American folk traditions. The earliest instrument that typified Cajun music was the fiddle. In dance halls and house parties called fais-do-dos, two fiddlers performed together—the lead playing melody, the other playing back-up. The powerful accordion sound soon joined the twin fiddles along with percussion inspired by Creole music. In the 1930s and 1940s, steel guitars, mandolins, and banjos entered the scene, bringing a country-western swing to Cajun music. (This strong country influence differentiates Cajun music from the closely aligned zydeco music.) The Cajun bands of today incorporate electric guitars and amplified instruments, proving that the Cajun sound is continuing to evolve.
In 1920s rural Louisiana, ten cents granted admission to hours of rollicking music at a “La La” house party. La La party music—characterized by the use of accordions, fiddles, triangles, and washboards or rub-boards called frottoirs— formed the basis of zydeco. The French-speaking Creoles of southwest Louisiana added elements of blues and jazz to the party mix. The result was zydeco, a musical style dominated by the accordion, frottoir, and heavy syncopation (a rhythmic technique of shifting accents to weak beats). Accordion player and singer Clifton Chenier was credited with naming this musical genre. After a long history of hits like “Zydeco Sont pas Sale,” Chenier was dubbed the “King of Zydeco.” Zydeco is often linked with Cajun music, but it has a harder, faster sound and employs more electric instruments. In dance halls today, elements of soul, disco, rap, and reggae can be heard among the rhythms of the frottoir.
Follow behind a parade in New Orleans and you’ll still be a part of the show. Whether a parade was organized for a celebration or funeral, honorees and others in the main procession would be followed by a “second line” of participants hoping to get closer to the rhythms of the brass bands. The term “second line” would come to be associated with brass band music and the fancy footwork that accompanies it. New Orleans has a long tradition of brass bands, dating back to the early 20th century. Consisting mostly of brass instruments like trumpets and trombones and percussion, brass bands played a blend of European military band music, African folk music, and jazz. The brass band tradition experienced a revival in the 1970s and 1980s when bands like the Rebirth Brass Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band laced traditional sounds with funk, Hip Hop, bebop, and R&B.
In the early 19th century, the fertile delta of northwest Mississippi gave rise to a thriving cotton industry. As white cotton planters turned profits, enslaved Black people toiling in their fields turned to singing and hollering to lighten their loads, pass the time, and communicate with each other. Early Mississippi Delta blues songs reflect the Southern Black struggle to cope with racial oppression, illiteracy, and poverty. As worksongs grew in length and complexity, blues music moved from the fields to juke joints. Musicians like Charley Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson accompanied their harsh, raspy vocals (sometimes spoken rather than sung) with powerful, driving rhythms on the guitar or harmonica. The Delta blues style continues to be characterized by raw vocalizing and rhythmic intensity. In addition, Delta blues musicians often employ slide techniques, meaning they move a glass or metal tube called a slide along a guitar’s strings to change the notes.
Composer Thomas A. Dorsey and other pioneers of gospel music helped open the church doors to music considered sinful by conservative churchgoers. In the 1930s, Dorsey livened up the hymnal by incorporating elements of blues and jazz. Early “Sanctified” churches also influenced the restrained environment of mainline churches. Sanctified preachers encouraged the congregation to spontaneously burst into improvised musical lines to express their faith. Following in the footsteps of this stylistic freedom, groups such as the Golden Gate Quartet and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi began ad-libbing in their jubilee style of gospel music. Jubilee is characterized by a strong, pumping bass, and lead vocals that ride the line between spoken and sung. The Golden Gate Quartet and other four-part choral groups showcased stunning solos and intricate harmonies. The tradition of gospel quartets continues to lift the spirits of both its listeners and participants in concert halls and churches alike.
In the 1600s, African-born enslaved people in the United States were prohibited from playing—or even possessing—musical instruments. Regardless, the plantation fields still swayed with a capella music (without instruments) sung to the rhythms of work. Slaveowners strove to use Christianity as a means for cultural colonization; many enslaved Black people sympathized with the struggles that Jesus embodied, and they found comfort in the hope of heaven. Those who were enslaved were forbidden from gathering but conducted religious services in secret. At these meetings, informal worksongs evolved into intricate songs of redemption, struggle, and Christian faith that came to be known as “spirituals.” The multi-part harmonies of these spirituals set in motion a long tradition of Black choral music. In the late 19th century, Harry Burleigh—a protege of Antonín DvoÅ™ák—took the musical style to new heights with choral arrangements informed by his classical training. Modern choral music takes on many different forms, and is often accompanied by the piano, percussion, and bass.
Visit the websites of the musicians interviewed in this series to hear more of their music and learn more about them:
While listening, have students create a graphic organizer that shows the information they learn. They might want to make a timeline, an illustrated map, or a flow chart showing how to become a musician.
Follow up with one or more of these activities:
Narrators
John Morthland
Charles Chamberlain
Kip Lornell
Audio Producer
Richard Paul
Editor
Tiffany A. Bryant
Producer
Kenny Neal
Updated
November 29, 2021
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