Western Swing | Acoustic Guitar

Cowboy Chords: An Introduction to Western Swing and Its Illustrious Guitarists

From the May/June 2019 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY WHIT SMITHThe first Western swing record I heard was Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys’ Tiffany Transcript... Read More...

Album Review: Hot Club of Cowtown’s ‘Wild Kingdom’ Goes Beyond Django, Wills

From the January/February 2020 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY GREG CAHILLTo say Hot Club of Cowtown—guitarist Whit Smith, fiddler a... Read More...

Learn to Play the Texas Fiddle Favorite “Beaumont Rag”

The campground jam favorite “Beaumont Rag” most likely started life near the East Texas town of Beaumont that it was named after. Recorded in the late 1920s by... Read More...

Tiger Rag: The Light Crust Doughboys’ Barn-Burning Western Swing Classic

From the May/June 2019 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY ADAM PERLMUTTERFor a brief moment, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. “Tiger Rag,” as perfo... Read More...

Guitar Lesson: Western Swing Rhythm Essentials

BY WHIT SMITH with ADAM PERLMUTTERWestern swing has certainly been an outlet for virtuosic expression on the guitar—like Karl Farr’s sophisticated, jazzy appr... Read More...

Lesson: An Intro to Hot Western Swing

By Sean McGowan Bringing together elements of early popular and country music, swing jazz, blues, and rural dance hall traditions, Western swing is pure vintage... Read More...

Watch Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky Demonstrate How to Play Rhythm Guitar in Western Swing

Calling all Western Swing fans: Check out this video lesson, featuring Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky, The Time Jumpers), from the Jazz Academy at Lincoln Cente... Read More...