This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a legislator’s son who lived the life of a traveling troubadour.
Goebel Reeves was born on October 9, 1899, in Sherman, Texas. His father was a state legislator, so Reeves and his family relocated to Austin. His mother taught him to sing and play guitar, trumpet, and piano. After serving as a bugler on the front lines during World War I, Reeves returned home and became a wandering troubadour. He influenced both country star Jimmie Rodgers and legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie, who recorded Reeves’s best-known song, “Hobo’s Lullaby.”
Goebel Reeves recorded as the “Texas Drifter.” True to his nickname, he performed for years all across North America before dying in California in 1959.
Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll recall a wrestling promoter who started a Texas musical institution.
