"Chronicles western swing bands popular in Texas and Oklahoma during the Great Depression and World War II; also investigates contemporary western swing renaissance. Includes music transcription and analysis"--Provided by publisher.

Its strains may be haunting, but western swing is alive and on the upswing, enjoying a renaissance among musicians too young to recall or even comprehend its heyday. On the local level, western swing bands dominated the airways and dance halls in every town and rural setting throughout the Southwest in the 1930s and by the 1940s. This presents the history and music of those bands that did not garner national fame, but were local sensations.