How does an Oklahoma native become an icon of Texas country music? For answers, we need look no further than the life and career of Gary P. Nunn.
Nunn, who was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, moved to Texas when he was 12 years old. While in the seventh grade in the Brownfield School System, he discovered music — and started his first garage band.
Nunn excelled as a student, an athlete and a musician. After high school, he attended Texas Tech University and South Plains College. There he played with a rock band, The Sparkles, during the 1960s. Later in the ‘60s, Nunn transferred to the University of Texas at Austin. While there, he set about making a name for himself on the Austin music scene.
He snagged gigs with well-known Texas musicians like Michael Martin Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson. He was pianist for the Lost Gonzo Band, a group that backed both Walker and Murphey. The band eventually parted ways and set out to produce their own music, releasing three albums in the late 1970s.
When the Lost Gonzo Band split up, Nunn was left to pursue a solo career.
By 1985, he’d returned to Oklahoma, where he operated a family farm. He remained active on the music scene, recruiting bands to play at events like the Terlingua North Music Festival, and several budding artists made their way to Austin because of Nunn’s encouragement.
After 18 years in Oklahoma, he returned to his adopted home state of Texas. A songwriter as much as a performer, Nunn has written songs for Murphey, Walker and Nelson, as well as Tracey Nelson, David Allan Coe and Roseanne Cash.
As a performer, Nunn is best known for two songs which, despite limited airplay, have become iconic in Texas.
1. “London Homesick Blues” (aka “Home with the Armadillo”) served as the introductory song on the PBS series “Austin City Limits” for nearly three decades.
The song, written while Nunn was touring in Great Britain, tells of his longing to return to Texas, where all the good things in life were waiting: “Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene; the friendliest people and the prettiest women you’ve ever seen.” He contrasts life in Texas with what he’s found in London — cold temperatures, rain and people with a dry sense of humor. He says his only two friends are “a smoke and a cheap guitar.”
The popularity of “London Homesick Blues” and its ties to Texas gave rise to the song Nunn claims to be his favorite:
2. “You Ask Me What I Like About Texas” covers just about everything Texans brag about between the “Sabine and the Rio Grande.”
The tune notes several of the state’s cities and landmarks: The Llano Estacado, the Brazos and the Colorado rivers, Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Del Rio and Barton Springs (Austin) are all mentioned by name. And Texas cultural institutions like the Alamo, bluebonnets, Lone Star Beer, San Antonio’s Riverwalk, Mi Tierra, Indian paintbrushes and body surfing on the Frio River are all noted as well.
As Nunn wrote, the state of Texas can be summed up in one phrase:
It’s another burrito,
It’s a cold Lone Star in my hand,
It’s a quarter for the jukebox, boys,
Play the sons of the mother-lovin’ bunkhouse band.”
This promotion of Texas brought Nunn great accolades, especially during the 1980s. Aside from being honored with the “Austin City Limits” opening credit and with an iconic song about the state, Nunn was named Texas’ Official Ambassador to the World by Governor Mark White in 1985.
Nunn is a “Lone Star Great” as defined by the Texas Commerce and Tourism Department. He’s a member of the West Texas Walk of Fame and the Texas Music Hall of Fame. He’s performed performer of the National Anthem at various sporting events and was named the “Musical Ambassador for Texas” by Gov. Rick Perry. The Oklahoma House of Representatives even got in on the act, recognizing its native son for his contributions to southwestern Music. In addition, Nunn has several Gold and Platinum Records.
Over the course of his career, which continues today, Nunn has recorded a total of 26 albums — six with the Lost Gonzo Band and 20 as a solo artist.
His discography of solo albums display his close ties to Texas in many of the titles: “Pride of Texas,” “Where There’s Willie, There’s a Way,” “Christmastime in Texas,” “It’s a Texas Thing” and “To Texas, With Love,” just to name a few.
If you’re looking for Top 40 Country Music, Nunn has never been a “go-to” singer. But for Texans, he’s an institution — and in Austin he’s revered as the singer who helped open the movement of Texas Progressive Country Music and the Outlaw Movement in country music as a whole.
Unlike Waylon and Willie, Nunn never left Texas for Nashville; instead, he’s carved out a lucrative career for himself on a more regional level.
Until next time, remember that country music and Trucker Country are largely built on geography. For the ultimate in geographic music, take a tour of Texas with Gary P. Nunn on your next road trip.
Since retiring from a career as an outdoor recreation professional from the State of Arkansas, Kris Rutherford has worked as a freelance writer and, with his wife, owns and publishes a small Northeast Texas newspaper, The Roxton Progress. Kris has worked as a ghostwriter and editor and has authored seven books of his own. He became interested in the trucking industry as a child in the 1970s when his family traveled the interstates twice a year between their home in Maine and their native Texas. He has been a classic country music enthusiast since the age of nine when he developed a special interest in trucking songs.
