Art Thieme - some really interesting points, on the development of western swing, I wouldve thought that Bob Wills (whose guitarist - the name escapes me now, but he died less than 2 years ago, was influential with his jazz chords) and bands like the East Texas serenaders were most influential in swing. Followed by texas fiddle players like Benny Tomason and Orville Burns. By the way many Czechs settled in Texas and formed their own brass bands (in the german tradition) and you can really hear that influence in Tex-Mex. Before radio and the gramophone people could date the arrival of a fiddletune in their region, as people didnt travel all that much so when a new fiddle tune came in fiddle players were eager to learn it