Coming Soon: Henry Horenstein’s New Book ‘Miles and Miles of Texas’

Old Fields, TX, 2020 by Henry Horenstein

Elliott Gallery is excited to announce Henry Horenstein’s upcoming book Miles and Miles of Texas, set to be published in March 2025 by 1814Magazine.

Kinky Friedman, At Home, Echo Hill Ranch, Medina, TX, 2022 by Henry Horenstein

Rodeo Cowboy, Leakey Jubilee, Leaky, TX, 2023 by Henry Horenstein

“My fascination with Texas began as a youngster with a TV series, Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. I even sported the coonskin hat that Davy popularized. No matter that the real Davy was from Tennessee. He died in 1836 at the Alamo, a fort in San Antonio, Texas, in an effort to protect the Anglo (white) settlers from the Mexicans. And, though I didn't know it then, also to grab land and retain the right to own slaves. Mexico had outlawed slavery in 1829.

I learned more about Texas over the years, as an earnest history student in high school and college. But what I did not know was how much of Texas figured into my other great interest. Music. Many of my favorite songs and singers had a Texan connection. Who knew there was such a thing called Texas music?

As a kid, I listened to and loved songs of history, like Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans. Johnny died in a car crash in Milano, Texas. A roadside marker appears in Miles & Miles of Texas; flat out honky tonk shuffles like Ernest Tubb's Walking the Floor Over You; troubadours like Marty Robbins (El Paso); and into my folk music period, Jerry Jeff Walker's Mr. Bojangles. Jerry Jeff wasn't technically a Texan. He was born in Oneonta, New York. For that matter Ray Benson, another iconic Texas musician, founded his band Asleep the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia, not Texas. Ray is from Philadelphia.

These days Texas is a flashpoint for so many political beliefs, but this book is not about politics. For that side of things, best to read someone who knows a whole lot more than I do. Maybe start with Richard Wright's God Save Texas. And maybe keep in mind that Texas is a complex and nuanced place with almost 300,000 square miles and more than 30,000,000 people. Big cities, tiny towns, and huge ranches and farms, with endless acres all but unpopulated.

I drove to many of these places and photographed what I could. Miles & Miles of Texas is a nod to the history, the culture, and the people I met along the way, "some of the friendliest people you'll ever see." (Thanks Gary P. Nunn). And while I nodded I got to eat some tasty barbeque, listen to inspired music, and drink some cold beer. And to make some pictures I like that I got to put in this book.”

— Henry Horenstein

Book Cover, Miles and Miles of Texas by Henry Horenstein