The East Texas Serenaders will be celebrated with two events in Mineola next week.

An historical marker will be dedicated in downtown Mineola Monday at 5 p.m.

Their music will be featured by Skillet Licorice, a band from California that performs the Serenaders’ music.

They will be performing on Tuesday at the Select Theater at 7 p.m. and are also expected to take part in the historical marker ceremony.

This excerpt of the Serenaders’ history is included on the Skillet Licorice website.

“Born only 11 miles apart, members of the East Texas Serenaders grew up in the farming towns of Mineola and Lindale. The bandmates were from musical families. Professionally, they held day jobs, but in their free time they would perform for social events, municipal concerts and square dances. The late Artie Tucker from Mineola recalls “When you lived in the country, sometimes you could hear the music. That’s when you knew the East Texas Serenaders were nearby. They would pull up and unload, sometimes using a wagon for a stage.”

Though there was money to be made on the road, the ETS remained devoted to their full-time jobs and their families, preferring to stay close to home. There were exceptions of course and the popularity and success of their recordings would eventually afford them engagements in the fancy hotels of Dallas, Houston and parts of Oklahoma. 

Only the fiddler and front man, Daniel Huggins “DH” Williams, claimed his profession as that of musician. Daniel, (a rarity, a left handed-fiddler, playing left-handed!) was apparently, an irrepressible child prodigy and, from a young age, he listened keenly to his father’s fiddling. When his father wasn’t looking, DH would borrow his father’s fiddle and try to imitate his dad. After realizing his son’s talent, Daniel’s father bought him a left-handed instrument and gave his son formal music instruction. Daniel would later become an award winning contest fiddler and a teacher himself. One of his most famous pupils was Johnny Gimble, the famous Texas fiddler. Gimble recounts that he learned the double shuffle bowing pattern from watching Williams. 

Accompanying Williams was the hard driving rhythm section of John Munnerlyn on tenor banjo, Cloett Hamman on guitar and Patrick Henry Bogan on cello. Like fiddler Williams, Bogan and Hamman came from musical families. Hamman learned guitar by backing up his father who was a contest fiddler. Bogan first learned guitar as a youngster and later picked up the bass and piano. Bogan originally played bass with the group, but decided to switch to cello as it was easier to transport, especially in the rain. He later removed a string from the cello because as he said, “He didn’t need it”. 

Recording primarily their own compositions, the East Texas Serenaders recorded 26 sides from 1927-30 and again in 1937. Like many bands recording in Texas at this time, the band chose to record only waltzes and syncopated rag-time numbers. Perhaps to evoke the sophisticated jazz recordings that were being produced at this time, many of their tunes were recorded in the keys typically used by horn players: F, B-flat and E-flat. With the popularity of Western Swing on the rise, the recording companies were eager to have twin fiddles on their 1937 recordings. By this time, John Munnerlyn had moved out of the area and Shorty Lester had replaced him on banjo. Luckily, Shorty’s brother played fiddle and the ETS welcomed Henry Lester on harmony fiddle. 

The play between the syncopated rhythms of Williams’ elegant bowing against the grooving accompaniment of bowed cello, banjo and guitar create a dense sonic experience. This band liked to play fast. ETS’s dreamy waltzes are real gems, including the evocative “Dream Shadows” written by guitarist, Cloet Hamman and fiddler Williams. A real standout in their catalog is their bluesy 3-part foxtrot “Babe” in the key of E-flat. A number of the tunes they recorded are still widely played at fiddle contests including “Beaumont Rag” and the “Shannon Waltz”. Their own tune, “Three in One Two-Step”, contains other popular contest tunes including “Dill Pickle Rag” and “I Don’t Love Nobody”. 

The only two known photos of the East Texas Serenaders, taken on the same day, show the band dressed in either working man’s dungarees or wearing suits and ties. These charismatic publicity shots, for either a raucous square dance or a refined evening at a fancy dancehall, encapsulate the band’s scope in their audience and repertoire. 

Many folks have said that the East Texas Serenaders were precursors to Western Swing. Whether this is true or not, their combinations of swinging repertoire, key signature choices and artistry have earned them a place in Texas musical history.”