Western swing now seems to be in the DNA of Texas music. The legendary Bob Wills was a pioneer of the amalgamation that emerged in Texas, Oklahoma, and the lower Great Plains in the 1920s and 1930s, fusing country string band music and Southwest old-time fiddle traditions with the big band jazz of the era. It featured "hot fiddling," a heavy, syncopated beat and improvised solos to create a danceable sound that in the 1940s became wildly popular.

Wills' fiddler, Johnny Gimble, is among the of the genre and has inspired many contemporary players, including his granddaughter, Emily, a member of the Marshall Ford Swing Band. The group formed when songwriter-guitarist Greg Harkins attended Johnny Gimble's swing camp in Taos, New Mexico, and there met Emily, a talented western swing-style pianist and singer. Harkins convinced her to join the group, and added bassist Kristopher Wade and drummer James Gwyn. The band, named after the old dam on Austin's Lake Travis, will be joined at the festival by Asleep at the Wheel veteran fiddler Danny Levin.

SCHEDULE: Friday, Boarding House Park, 8:15 p.m.; Saturday, Boarding House Park, 2 p.m., Dutton Street, 4 p.m.

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