When Texas was fertile ground for prison bands

"[T]he most moving lyrics are about loneliness, heartache and how incarceration strains families."

“The musicians skated around problems. The officers treated us better. Every song you did on the albums, you’d get $10 for writing it, and if you played at the rodeo, you got $5.”

https://www.keranews.org/arts-culture/2026-03-26/texas-prison-rodeo-music

#TexasPrisonRodeo #TheMarshallProject #RedemptionSongs #Music #DollyParton #WillieNelson #Jazz #BehindTheWalls #JohnnyCash #MauriceChammah #KERA

When Texas was fertile ground for prison bands

Until the 1980s, an annual prison rodeo offered a chance for men inside to perform and sell albums. Now The Marshall Project is making them available to you.

KERA