You would have to be old enough to have great-grandchildren to have grown up with the original Bob Wills music, so Billy Mata, a native Texan from San Antonio, is essentially trying an experiment. He wants to see if his passion can be shared by the rest of us. His Passion is Western Swing. "I never heard Bob personally... only his recordings... but I have always known Bob personally in my heart. It's the real Texas music, today or yesterday," Billy Mata insists. Billy Mata has been around the San Antonio music scene now for over thirty years and 2006 marks the 25th Anniversary of his own band, Billy Mata & the Texas Tradition. 2006 also marks the release of his 5th album, but more notibly, his 3rd Western Swing CD album, "Domino Effect," expected to be in formal distribution by early July. "Getting this Western Swing and traditional Texas CD out in real distribution is like dream come true," said Mata. "It's been a long road, but worth it all the way," he added. "What a pleasure to be able to release a CD that truly represents who I am," said Mata. "It's a collection of some brand new songs and a some selected recuts of songs I did years ago with studio musicians before I really concentrated on traditional music. Only this time, it's with my own band in our own style. And it's with the help and endorsement of my friend and Grammy winning Western Swing great, Floyd Domino, who is a guest artist playing piano on this album. This CD kicks!" A recording and management deal in 1984 with BGM Network started Mata off with his first Billboard charted single, "Across The Alley From The Alamo". BGM promoted and charted Billy with three more songs to mainstream Nashville radio, but after many years of playing Top 40 style music with two full albums to his credit in 1993 and 1994, Billy began to fully realize just how important his traditional Texas music roots were. "I knew I had to play the music that was in my heart," Billy said. "And I began to realize that when we played real traditional Texas music to our live audiences, it was obvious that they felt the same way about their roots as I do." Mata convinced his manager to include a few Western Swing songs on his 1994 CD release, "Made In Texas". Finding his audience appreciative of the music, he boldly announced to his band that he was going to focus exclusively on his Texas traditional roots. "Knowing my heart," said Mata, "I began devoting my public performances to Western Swing Music. I believed in it and I think my audiences noticed. Because of that, my stage band grew with me into the style. With it's growing expertise, The Texas Tradition has managed to capture the interest of and attract the best of the best of Texas Swing musicians." In 1998 on his third CD release, "Keepin' The Tradition: A Tribute To My Heroes", Billy insisted on using his own stage band as his recording band to perform the authentic traditional country music he truly prefers: real Bob Wills and Billy Mata Western Swing and the rich roots of Texas music, inspired by the masters of the style who thrived when Texas music rivaled Nashville music on the radio. His insistance caused him to have to release the album on his own since it fell outside the labels focus of mainstream, Top 40 music of the day. Faced with financing the project through independent investors and the volunteer efforts of his own band to make the project a reality, Mata took considerable risk to bring his passion to the public. In spite of very little in the way of formal distribution, word of mouth made the CD surprisingly successfull. It caused a buzz with Western Swing genre DJs who began trading it around among themselves. "We started hearing about songs from the album popping up in Connecticut and Seattle, Washington and Chicago and even in Europe," said Mata. "We got calls from lots of people we'd never met before asking where they could get the CD. When we heard that our CD was album of the year on Mike Gross's syndicated radio show, 'Swingin West', we knew somthing was really happening," Mata added. "Keepin' The Tradition" received wide attention on the radio, eventually leading to an Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Award for Billy Mata in 2000 as Male Western Swing Vocalist of the Year. With Mata's evident passion for the style and his natural and powerful vocal delivery, the CD also captured the interest of some of the legendary pioneers of the genre. He was invited to be a guest singer on the syndicated KVOO radio show, "The Lincoln County Symposium Of The Air," hosted by Country Music Hall of Fame deejay Larry Scott. Featured as a vocalist with Tommy Morrell and the Timewarp Tophands, he quickly became a regular on the live to tape, weekly broadcast. Along with his featured solo vocals, he had the opportunity to sing duets with masters of the style, Leon Rausch and Johnny Bush. (Bush also appears as guest duet singer on Billy's "Keepin' the Tradition" CD.) Legendary Western Swing producer Tommy Allsup eventually invited Billy to be a featured singer with Tommy, Leon Rausch and the Original Texas Playboys at the Lincoln County Symposium in Ruidoso, New Mexico. After his initial exposure in this seminal Western Swing showcase, Billy and Texas Tradition fiddler Richard Helsley have become regular invitees performing in multiple shows with the Texas Playboys and Grammy winner Floyd Domino's All Stars. Billy and his band have become a reference to the genre. In 2004, Billy's fourth CD album, "Traditionally Yours, Billy Mata," was released garnering even broader exposure. As before, it was entirely self produced. And as before, it found its way to DJs across the country without the benefit of traditional industry distribution machinery. "We just kept on doing what we believed in," Billy said. As a result, in 2005, Billy Mata & the Texas Tradition were nominated in five separate categories for the annual Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Awards show, the largest number of Top Ten nominations for any artist that year. They ended up in the Top Five for Western Swing Band, Western Swing Album and Western Swing Song of the year. Billy Mata himself won Male Western Swing Vocalist of the Year and the top award, Entertainer of the Year. "The Texas Tradition is more than just a road band," said Mata. "I couldn't do it without them. They are a collection of professional musicians from a wide area of Texas who are gathered together by their common interest in Texas Swing and the opportunity to play with the best of the best. Just think about this: ever since we started playing the music we really love, we've stuck together as a team. That says alot!" In fact, they are a remarkably dedicated and experienced group. All but one of the musicians are now past their decade mark with the band. Roger Edgington from San Antonio, Texas on steel guitar and Richard Helsley from New Braunfels, Texas on fiddle and harmony vocals are both in their 12th year. Jim Cleckler from McQueeny, Texas on bass guitar is in his 14th year. Rocco Fortunato from Brackettville, Texas on drums and harmony vocals is in his 17th year. Chaney Rutherford from San Marcos, Texas on lead guitar is the newest member in his 3rd year. Twenty-four year old Chaney is also the youngest. "When you realize that this is the 25th anniversary of The Texas Tradition, that means that Chaney was only 1 year old when we started!," reflects Mata. "But seriously, Chaney was handpicked because of his unwavering interest in Western Swing (and because he brings the average age of the band down a bit...). But being the baby in the group is the only thing he comes last at." "Western Swing music is a challenge for musicians to play," asserts Mata. "That challenge is a reason swing music is so alive. The musicians and audience participate in making the music together because, like jazz, the musicians create new lines and ideas each night. And it's the audience that inspires the musicians. It's not just another "human jukebox" on the stage. When we play, it's just natural and fun, the way it should be." Bob Wills knew that. Billy Mata knows that. And the audience feels it. It's a Texas tradition. Billy Mata and the Texas Tradition are: From San Antonio, Texas; Billy Mata (The Chief) singing lead vocals and playing rhythm electric and acoustic guitar From New Braunfels, Texas; Richard Helsley singing harmony and playing fiddle From Uvalde, Texas; Chaney Rutherford playing electric lead guitar From San Antonio, Texas; Roger Edgington playing steel guitar From McQueeny, Texas; Jim Cleckler playing bass and from Brackettville, Texas; Rocco Fortunato singing harmony and playing drums