Whole Other Country.(representation of Texan musical heritage at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame)

Publication: Texas Monthly

Publication Date: 01-JUL-01

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Texas Monthly, Inc.

WHY DO I THINK THAT NASHVILLE'S NEW COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME IS SUCH A HIT? BECAUSE OF THE SURPRISING WAY IT SHEDS LIGHT ON TEXAS.

YOU REALLY OUGHT TO see Bob Dunn's Hawaiian-style lap-steel guitar. In 1934 Dunn was playing with western swing founder Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies when he attached a small metal pickup to his instrument, plugged it into an amp, and became arguably the first country musician to play electric guitar. Emulating the tailgate trombone of Jack Tea-garden, Dunn churned out boozy, feedback-laden licks so incredibly loud, humorous, and dissonant that they still sound radical today.

Thanks to the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which opened in Nashville in May, you can see one of Dunn's gems. The instrument was discovered in the attic of the old Crystal Springs dance hall in Fort Worth, where Brown appeared regularly. It is so tiny it will leave you wondering how such a small guitar could have created such big sounds. Even more impressive, the lap steel shares a case in the hall's special Texas exhibit with one of Flaco Jimenez's red Hohner button accordions. That may not seem...

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