Texas Heritage Songwriters' Homecoming

In early March, the Paramount will host the Texas Heritage Songwriters' Association's annual Homecoming event, honoring Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Michael Martin Murphey and Allen Shamblin. The concert and awards ceremony will feature performances by this year’s honorees in an intimate, in-the-round songwriter showcase.

The Songwriters' Association is celebrating five years of homecoming events, during which honorees perform and concert-goers get a glimpse of Texas legends. The association works with and honors those local artists who have helped to define our cultural history. Certainly there's no argument against Willie's inclusion on this special list of honorees, having helped to define outlaw country in the '70s and helping to put Austin on the musical map. Guy Clark has been playing music in Texas since the '60s, and was known for hosting jam sessions with people like Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell and Billy Jo Shaver. Michael Martin Murphey is probably best known for his conception of 'redneck rock' in the early '70s, and lately his Cowboy Christmas performances have kept him busy, producing CDs and DVDs and a special honor from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Allen Shamblin made his living in Austin in the old days by appraising realty, but after finding the time to assemble some gems, ended up striking gold in Nashville as a songwriter. Over the years, he's given songs to Randy Travis, Keith Urban, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Prince, Patti LaBelle and many others.

For more on the honorees, visit the Texas Heritage Songwriters' Web site.