It’s impossible to overstate the individual and collective musical impact of Dallas-born Vaughan brothers Jimmie and Stevie Ray. As lead guitarist for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie played an instrumental role in putting Austin on the blues map in the ’70s. The resulting scene proved the perfect launching pad for his kid brother Stevie Ray’s phenomenal solo career, sparking nothing less than a national blues revival. Sadly, they only recorded one album together as the Vaughan Brothers, 1990’s Family Style (featuring the already classic, Jimmie-sung “Good Texan”) before Stevie Ray’s untimely death in a helicopter crash on Aug. 27, 1990. But the Vaughan legacy lives on, with Stevie Ray’s recordings continuing to inspire musicians old and young, while Jimmie remains one of the Lone Star State’s most respected musical statesmen.
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