Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Roadhouse Music Put the Blues in the Red, White and Blue

San Francisco, CA—The little bar on the edge of town that comes alive when the sun goes down, the roadhouse is where the music drives the locals to their feet and keeps them rocking till they drop. No-nonsense, back-to-basics music—mixing blues, country, R&B, soul, and down-and-dirty rock ’n’ roll.

Texas is the honorary home of roadhouse music, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan its uncrowned king. Roadhouse Blues: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Texas R&B traces his explosive arrival in the early 1980s, when he was hot on the trail of his Texas forebears—from electric guitar pioneers like Eddie Durham and Charlie Christian to blues legends like T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Albert Collins, and even his own big brother Jimmie. Following Stevie Ray’s awesome ride to his untimely death in 1990, Roadhouse Blues explores what friends, fellow players, and countless fans still ponder—just what he might have done next. As John Swenson wrote in Rolling Stone, “We are left with this legacy—and left to wonder how much more this guitar genius might have accomplished.”

More than just a biography and musical exploration of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Roadhouse Blues tells the stories of the great Texan musicians that came before him and influenced him so deeply. It puts into context Stevie Ray’s rise to fame—including the part played in his life by his family, his friends, heroes such as Jimi Hendrix, and his addiction to drugs and alcohol—as well as the lasting impact that his brief, turbulent life has had on his contemporaries.

Packed with first-hand accounts of the scene, Roadhouse Blues is an insightful and engaging read for anyone with a soft spot for the blues. It also includes discographies of the musicians that made roadhouse