Music-Musicians
Linden is synonymous with music in East Texas. From the early days of Scott Joplin, T--Bone Walker, and The Cass County Boys, there has always been a song in the air of this Piney Woods town. Young people grew up listening to Country & Western, Jazz, and Blues played by native sons. This legacy was later augmented with Rock n' Roll. Musicians like Don Henley, Richard and Mike Bowden, Jerry Surratt (as "The Four Speeds"), and others, honed their skills at the American Legion Hall. The Legion Hall was "the" place to be on Friday or Saturday nights in East Texas. Bands from all over the area vied to "book" the Legion Hall for a concert or a dance. There was music literally 52 weeks a year!
The Legion Hall was artfully renovated and reopened in May 2003 as the Music City Texas Theater.
Music City Texas Theater is an anchor on the proposed Texas Music Trails, and is part of the East Texas59 Road Trip – a 100-mile coalition of music venues from the Perot Theater in Texarkana to the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage. So, come on down to Linden.... Where the music never ends!
Musical guests have included:
Country Performers:
Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, Marty Stuart, T. Graham Brown, Junior Brown, The Bellamy Brothers, Tommy Cash, Jason Allen, John Anderson, Gene Watson, Eddie Raven, Hal Ketchum, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Jamie Richards, Rebecca and the Slackers, Charlie Rich, Jr., Doyle Dykes, and The Rodney Whatley Band;
Texas/Country:
Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Brandon Rhyder, Charlie Robison, Bruce Robison, and Kelly Willis
Western Performers:
Michael Martin Murphey, Riders in the Sky, and Mike Siler:
Cajun Performers:
Jo-El Sonnier
Jazz Performers:
Two time U.S. finger style guitar picking Champion Don Ross;
Classical Jazz harpist Joanna Jordan;
Rock Performers:
Don Henley, Jackson Browne, AC/DC tribute band Back n Black, The Terms, The Guppies From Outer Space, The Artimus Pyle Band (of Lynard Skynard), and Freddie & the Falcons;
Americana Performers: Chasing Rita, and the O'Byrne Family;
Bluegrass Performers:
Hickory Hill, The Masat Family, Lone Star Bluegrass Band, Tennessee Valley Authority, Cadillac Sky,The Byron Berline Band, Beatlegras, Bowles Creek Gospel Bluegrass Band, and Blue River;
Honkey Tonk Performers:
Tommy Alverson,
Blues Performers:
Keb' Moe', Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Bluebirds, Dee Dee Williams, Gary "Whitey Johnson" Nicholson, Kirby Kelley, Coyote Blue, Diddley Squat Band, Bugs Henderson, Bobbie Oliver & Jam City Revue, Betty Lewis & the Executives, The Kesler Brothers, AJ & the Two Tone Blues Band, Duffy Bishop Band, Wes Jeans, Dan Sanchez & the Kings of Pleasure, Howard Starling & the Groove Yard Band, Tyler Dow Bryant, Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy, K. M. Williams, Howell & Caskey, Bugs Henderson & the Shuffle Kings, Kayla Reeves, Almond & Johnson, Pocket Change, Big Red & the Soul Benders, The Blues Specialists, Stephen Bruton, Marcia Ball, Delbert McClinton, Malford Milligan, TuTu Jones, Dorothy "Miss Blues" Ellis, Elliott Fikes and the Ezekiel Experience, and Matt "Mojo" Tedder;
Celtic Performers:
Glen Road, Beyond the Pale, and Brothers 3;
Christian & Gospel Performers:
The Cass County Mass Choir, The Southern Harmony Boys; Cross Creek Cowboy Church Band, and area church members who perform at the annual Gospel Show held each May.
Singer/Songwriters:
Dana Cooper,Gray Gregson, Doug Haywood, Jeff Gilkinson, Guy Clark, Jr., Stayton Bonner and Sweden's Annika Fehling, Eva Hillered, Mac McAnally, and Rodney Crowell.
