Bio

“Down Louisiana at the Crawfish Inn
Cool your heels under a ceilin’ fan
Two for one gonna save a buck
Come on down you can try your luck”

Lanny Fiel a.k.a. Robert Alan

  • Musician, Songwriter, Author, Archivist, Documentarian, and Teacher.

Born 1950 – Dallas, Texas

  • Raised in Lubbock, Texas, with family roots in Northwest Louisiana and musical experience in Nashville, Tennessee and Panhandle of Texas.

Summer ’65 – Age 15 began playing guitar in rock bands.

  • Came of age during the time of a musical renaissance in Rock and Roll, Country, and Blues.
  • With the British Invasion and Folk Revival became especially mindful of traditional roots in American music.

Late ‘60s – Recorded at Norman Petty Studio, Clovis, New Mexico; RCA Studio A and Spar Studios, Nashville, Tennessee; and Creative Workshop, Berryhill, Tennessee.

  • Lead Guitarist for Willie and the Red Rubber Band, RCA Victor albums, “Red Rubber Band” 1968, and “We’re Comin’ Up” 1969,
  • Two singles charted Billboard, Cash Box and Record World. “Chicky Chicky Boom Boom,” Willie and the Red Rubber Band, RCA 1969, and “The Rhino,” The Prince of America, Mega Records 1971.
  • Worked with Jimmy Buffett, as sideman playing guitar on early albums, including “Down to Earth,” “High Cumberland Jubilee,” Barnaby Records 1970 and 1971, and “Living and Dying on ¾ Time,’ featuring the hit single “Come Monday,” Dunhill 1974.

Early ‘70s through ’90s

– Symphonic Performance, Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

  • Nashville Symphony Orchestra – 25th Anniversary Season 1971
  • “Natchez Trace” Song Cycle. Composed by Tupper Saussy.
  • Member of “Ragnation” for premiere performance with Fisk Jubilee Singers.
  • Five songs describing a boy’s search for himself.

– School of Music, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.

  • Studied violin and viola.
  • Performed Texas Tech University Symphony Orchestra
  • Graduated Summa Cum Laude double major in Viola Performance and Music Theory.

– Violist and Country Fiddler

  • Performed as violist with Lubbock Symphony, San Angelo Symphony, Roswell Symphony Orchestras, and ‘A Class Act’ and Paul Ellsworth String Quartets.
  • Performed as country fiddler and guitarist with The Rounders and Yellowhouse String Band, 1970s.
  • Taught classical violin, viola and country fiddle in Lubbock Public School programs and private studio.

– Radio Personality, Documentarian, Producer and Teacher

  • Hosted “Roots Music Radio Show” on Public Radio, featuring traditional music from around the world, 1989 – 1995.
  • Produced documentary recordings of traditional ranch dance fiddle and cowboy music.
    • Joe Stephenson – Fourth Generation Texas Fiddle Champion
    • Frankie McWhorter – Ranch Foreman and Former Fiddler with Miller Brothers and Bob Wills ‘Texas Playboys’
    • Buck Ramsey – Cowboy Poet and Singer
  • Published books on tape to document Texas Panhandle Fiddle Tradition,
    • “Reading Music Naturally for Fiddle” South Plains College, Levelland, Texas
    • “Play It Lazy: The Bob Wills Fiddle Legacy” (Texas Tech University Press and Mel Bay)
    • “The Essential Texas Fiddle: Improvisation, Harmony and Style, Featuring Joe Stephenson” – (Texas Tech University Press and Mel Bay)
  • Worked with Tommy Allsup and former members of Bob Wills ‘Texas Playboys,’ to produce Frankie McWhorter albums ‘The Ranch Dance Fiddle’ and ‘Texas Sandman.’
  • Awarded Western Heritage “Wrangler” Award for Music, Traditional Western Albums co-produced with Buck Ramsey
    • “Rolling Uphill from Texas”
    • “My Home It Was in Texas”
  • Toured United States on Cowboy Gathering Circuit
    • Western Folklife Center “Cowboy Poetry Gathering” Elko, Nevada
    • Cowboy Symposium, Ruidoso, New Mexico
    • Gene Autry Museum, Los Angeles, California
    • Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
    • Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Golden Colorado
  • Founder and Music Director of ‘The Ranch Dance Fiddle Band’ to teach and pass on traditional fiddle music of West Texas to young musicians.
    • Recorded and transcribed extensive collection of traditional fiddle music from authentic artists Joe Stephenson, Frankie McWhorter, and Bobby Koefer as repertoire for the Ranch Band.
    • Performances
      • National Ranching Heritage Center, Lubbock, Texas
      • Naturally Yours Gallery and Dance Platform, Lipscomb, Texas.
      • Cowboy Symposium, Ruidoso, New Mexico
      • Lowell Folk Festival, Lowell, Massachusetts
      • Western Folklife Center, Elko, Nevada