Hello, I'm George Bancroft, the
Texas Tunesmith and the details of my story
are more complicated than I could possibly
fit on this web page, and they are less
important than this brief summary.
Like everything else I'm doing these days,
I'm doing it fast and consequently it may be
a little scattered but you should get the
spirit of what I'd like you to know:
At the age of 38, I found myself back in my
hometown of Big Spring, TX. I'd been
away for twenty years, and I was ambivalent
about having returned, but trying to make
the best of it. I soon found myself teaching
school at the only high school here in town
and enjoying it
much
more than I expected, but I was
concerned about how long the classroom
could hold my attention. I enjoy
life the most when I have more on my
plate than I should have served myself.
I worked as a part-time disc jockey at
one of the local stations, KBST, during
high school and from time to time during
college - - when I was home for the
summer. I loved the work, but I never
saw myself making a career of it. My
drawl is just a little too severe for
big time radio, and the only thing
thicker than my accent is my
unwillingness to remove it for any job.
I acquired my accent listening to men
and women I admire. I took a class in
Dallas one time to try learn how to
speak more like someone from the
Midwest, and I just felt dirty every
time I walked into the classroom.
Somehow, trying to change the way I talk
made me feel like I was insulting the
people who gave it to me.
I spent several years in Austin during
my mid-twenties learning how to write
songs. I love that process even more
than radio work. I spent every hour I
could find in coffee houses and little
bars listening to and learning from
other songwriters. I met the most
interesting people during that time.
What I enjoyed most about them was their
passion for their craft. I became a
decent songwriter and made a couple of
cassettes, but I just about starved to
death. I cut my hair off, went back to
school to get a teaching certificate,
and got married. Chapter finished...or
so I thought.
Big Spring is a wonderful little town,
but as with all small towns in West
Texas, its economic future is
uncertain. I was trying to think of
ways the town might help itself and what
I could do to pitch in and considered
putting together a music festival at the
local amphitheater. The venue seats
about 6,000 people and sits vacant all
but a handful of nights a year. It
occurred to me that there is no way I
could get 6,000 people to the
amphitheater without advertising the
event across Texas. As one idea
after another bounced around in my head,
I decided that if I was going to start
working on anything other than being a
good teacher, I would do so only if I
could proceed with projects for which I
had an unlimited passion. Radio and
Texas music immediately came to mind and
the idea for Texas Tunesmith came soon
thereafter. If I could put a radio show
together and get it on stations across
the state, then I would have a chance to
draw people to Big Spring for a
festival. Best case scenario - - the
town makes a little money. Worst case
scenario - we have a big party.
KBEST 95.7 said if I would put a show
together they would air it. So I
did, and KBEST was true to its word. I'm
a long way from being in a position to
advertise a music festival, but I'm
having a very good time. Texas
Tunesmith has taken on a life of its
own. I hope it will lead to a festival,
but if I never get the thing on another
station, I'm still going to do it
because it's a lot of fun. That's a
good enough reason to do anything - well
anything you'd do with your grandmother
in the room. My grandmother is seldom
in a room with me anymore, but I've
found that if I pretend she is, I stay
out of trouble.
I have a
beautiful wife, Elissa, and two equally
beautiful daughters, Medina (5) and
Olivia (3). I have a dog too, Milagro.
Milagro's not much to look at, but she's
as faithful a dog as you'd ever want to
have around the house and very much a
part of the family. It wouldn't be
right not to include her in any
description of our little clan.
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