Texas Top Hands

One of Texas' oldest continuously-performing western swing bands, debuted in 1945 with Clarence J. "Sleepy" Short on fiddle, George Edwin "Knee-High" Holley on string bass, Walter Kleypas on piano and accordion, and William Wayne "Rusty" Locke on steel guitar. Manager Johnny H. "Curley" Williams played acoustic guitar. The group had performed since 1941 under the name Texas Tumbleweeds. Inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame on May 9, 1992, in Austin. Former members of the band include Johnny Bush (drummer), Charlie Harris (guitarist), and Buck Buchanan (fiddler), all of whom later became members of Ray Price's Cherokee Cowboy Band. Other band members have included Charlie Shaw (drummer), Leon Merritt (vocalist and rhythm guitarist), Bill Schlotter and Pete Frazier (pedal steel guitarists), and Larry Nolen.