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78R11327 MW-D
By: Wilson H.R. No. 969
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost a premier blues and jazz
musician when Herbert William McKinny, widely known as Kinny Abair,
passed away on February 15, 2003; and
WHEREAS, This outstanding Texas musician was born on October
16, 1938; since the age of five, when he learned to play a guitar he
built himself, Mr. McKinny showed a remarkable aptitude for music,
studying the violin in his youth and attending the Berklee College
of Music in Boston as a young man out of the U.S. Navy; and
WHEREAS, Influenced by such music notables as Brownie McGhee,
Billy Bizor, Johnny Clyde Copeland, and Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins,
Mr. McKinny swiftly rose to prominence as a jazz guitarist with a
distinctive blues sound; and
WHEREAS, Audiences across the United States and Europe
enjoyed the fresh sound that emanated from his hollow body guitar;
in addition to his touring, Mr. McKinny performed for the
television miniseries A Woman of Independent Means, the movie
RoboCop, and the critically acclaimed documentary The Strange
Demise of Jim Crow; he also taught guitar lessons at Texas Southern
University; and
WHEREAS, This talented musician is being remembered on April
19, 2003, with a live concert by "Aubrey Dunham and The Party
Machine," a tribute to the enduring legacy of this esteemed Texas
artist; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature hereby honor the memory of Herbert William McKinny and
extend sincere sympathy to his family, friends, and countless fans,
and that when the Texas House of Representatives adjourns this day,
it do so in memory of Kinny Abair.