Tommy X Hancock (1929-2020) was a band leader, singer, and fiddler from Lubbock, Texas.
Tommy X Hancock was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. Prompted by his grandmother, he began taking classical violin lessons. After serving in World War II, he returned to Lubbock and joined the fiddle-driven swing ensemble called The Roadside Playboys, which influenced future Lubbock icon, Buddy Holly & The Crickets. In the 1950s, the band hired Hancock’s future wife and talented vocalist, Charlene Condray. Marrying in 1956, they started their family in Lubbock, where Tommy and Charlene rebuilt The Cotton Club garnering legends such as Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Muddy Waters, and more, until The Hancocks packed up and moved to an off-the-grid cabin in New Mexico. Without electricity or plumbing, they formed The Supernatural Family Band with their children, and would heavily influence Texas musicians like Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jesse Taylor, and The Maines Brothers Band. Eventually, they stopped touring and settled down in Austin, Texas, where the Hancocks currently reside. Tommy, a notorious barefoot dancer also known as Tom X, published his book Zen and the Art of the Texas Two-Step in 1998.
Tommy X Hancock was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in 2012.
