John A. Lomax

John A. Lomax became one of the foremost collectors of American folksongs. At his homesite on part of the Chisholm Trail, he heard cowboys crooning and yodeling to restless herds, learned jig tunes, chants, work songs, and calls from negro servants, and spent winter nights as his family sang songs and swapped stories around a blazing fire. While still a boy, he began writing down this music, and when he left Bosque County at age 20, he carried with him a roll of cowboy ballads that became the nucleus of his lifelong work.

Texas · United States