"Cain's Ballroom, the home of Bob Wills!" Crockett cheered from ... of Americana and independent country music that has entrenched Cain's as a must-play venue for artists like Isbell - who keeps ...

Bob Wills is still the king." You can hear Wills' influence throughout Americana, or, say, the nuevo-bluegrass of Carolina Chocolate Drops—any music in which fiddle plays a prominent role.

From the late 1920s to the early 1970s, Wills and his band the Texas Playboys blended western music with jazz and Big Band instrumentation. Everyone loves a happy ending, and in the case of ...

Bob Wills was from Texas, born into a family with generations of skilled fiddle players. He was also influenced by the music his African-American friends sang in the cotton fields and later by ...