As the holidays approach, Texas gift buyers are once again scouring the stores, surfing the Web and preparing to fight the Black Friday crowds to find just the right gifts for just the right special people in their life. And the task can be more than a little challenging!

But take hear! We've put a lot of thought into it for you this year and have come up with what we think is a grand idea. If you're from Texas - or even if you're not - there's no greater gift to receive than a gift that keeps on giving down through the years - and in our book that equates to the gift of music. And while there are a billion or more songs out there and a million or more great CDs you can pick up at any corner store that sells them, we suggest you refine your search to a musial gift that beats the norm - the gift of Texas music!

Yep - Texas Music - that one-of-a-kind, extra special kind of music that touches the heart of every Texas music lover everywhere, from El Paso to Orange, Wink to Woodsboro, Brownsville to Baytown - and everywhere inbetween. You can choose great Texa music to give, from country to rock, blues to Tejano, rock to pop to jazz and symphonic, because Texas music just about has it all.

Still having trouble thinking of the right CD to grab? Let us help you out. Here's a few or our favorite artists and selections for the Christmas season, true Texas tunes from true Texas artists. Review our short list and get ready to surf around the Web where you find just about every brand of Texas music with a few clicks of your mouse.

Sisters Morales
You can't go wrong with these sisters! The best music knows no boundaries, transcends borders and genres, and mixes, matches and melds styles into something all an artist's own. Doing just that comes naturally to Sisters Morales. A veritable spectrum of sounds and styles can be heard in the music created by Lisa and Roberta Morales and their longtime multi-guitar cohort David Spencer: Music rooted in the Southwestern spirit of Texas (where they live in San Antonio), Arizona (where the sisters grew up) and Mexico . Check out the music

Omar & the Howlers
The European blues fans all adore Austin based guitarist and singer/songwriter Omar Kent Dykes. That's because he fits the stereotypical image many of them have of the American musician: he's tall, wears cowboy boots and has a deep voice with a Southern accent. However, Dykes does not carry a gun, and though he looks rough and tough, he's actually an incredibly peaceful and intelligent musician, and a veteran at working a crowd in a blues club or a festival. Hailing from Mississippi mud country, Omar has been in Texas so long he has become an adopted son - and hius music speaks well of the Lone Star State. Chek out the music

Alejando Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo's family tree includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete's daughter Sheila E (also Prince's former drummer and later a pop star). He began his music career with the Nuns, a mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. He co-founded the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File in 1979, which moved to Austin in 1981 after a stint in New York City. The band released Sundown on Slash Records in 1982, but shortly after, Escovedo left to form the True Believers with brother Javier. Enjoy the Texas music of one of Texas best! Check out the music

White Ghost Shivers
Not your usual band, this Austin-based group will blow you away with original music and a dynamic show that just about defies description. Eclectic, unusual, and hot as they get, this group rocks in vaudeville style. The Shivers have been playing together for a long time, and it shows; they enjoy themselves on stage, and go to great lengths to make sure the audience has fun as well. Vocalist Cella Blue carries a bag of tricks, including candy, kazoos and whistles to throw to the audience. Banjo player Shorty Borgasm makes the most of his stick-on handlebar mustache and plays a mean nose flute. Check out the music

Joe Ely
Country-rock singer/songwriter/guitarist Joe Ely was born Earle R. Ely on February 9, 1947, in Amarillo. When he was 12, the family moved to Lubbock where his father ran a used clothing store. Inspired by seeing Jerry Lee Lewis perform when he was a child, Ely aspired to a musical career, and he briefly took violin and steel guitar lessons before turning to the guitar.  In 2007, Ely released Happy Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch. In early 2008, Ely released a new live album featuring Joel Guzman on accordion recorded at the Cactus Cafe in Austin. The Flatlanders released their newest album "Hills and Valleys" on March 31, 2009. Check out the music

The Reverend Horton Heat
The Reverend Horton Heat is perhaps the most popular psychobilly artist of all time, his recognition only rivaled only by the esteem generated by the genre's founders, the Cramps. The Reverend (as both the three-man band and its guitar-playing frontman were known) built a strong cult following during the '90s through constant touring, manic showmanship, and a twisted sense of humor. The latter was nothing new in the world of psychobilly, of course, and Heat's music certainly kept the trashy aesthetic of his spiritual forebears. The Reverend's true innovation was updating the psychobilly sound for the alternative rock era. Check out the music

Terri Hendrix
Singer/songwriter Terri Hendrix was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. She left home to attend Hardin-Simmons University in Abelene on vocal scholarship before transferring to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, where she continues to reside. While there she came under the influence of a local philanthropist, Marion Williamson, who owned a property in Hye, TX called Wilory Farm. From the start, Hendrix has always gone her own way — adopting the “Own Your Own Universe” approach to life that has defined her art and set her apart from the crowd as one of the most original and proudly independent artists in the Americana/roots scenes.   Check out the music

Rosie Flores
Whether she sweetly croons western swing, weeps country, wails the blues, or yelps rockabilly, there are few roots music styles that Rosie Flores can't imbue with heartbreaking panache or foot-stomping fire. On stage she can play mellow acoustic or rambunctious lead electric guitars, and sell it with the freewheeling spirit of a rockabilly icon. Rather than hem her into one specific cult scene, Flores' eclectic nature and showstopping guitar skills have allowed her to have the last laugh and stay constantly booked regardless of musical trends.

Ian Moore
It's a way of living has led Moore from emerging as, at first glance, a teenage guitar prodigy in the early 1990s in his hometown of Austin, Texas to fruition as a full-blooded musical artist, now based in Seattle, whose rich and keenly intelligent compositions invoke critics' comparisons to some of the most respected names in both classic and contemporary rock'n'roll music: musical auteurs like The Beatles, Brian Wilson and Big Star on the one hand, and master singer-songwriters such as Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen and both Tim and Jeff Buckley. Check out the music

Malford Miilgan
With his powerful, raspy voice and riveting stage presence, Austin-based singer Malford Milligan has drawn comparisons to such soul icons as Otis Redding and Al Green. Milligan was born on March 29, 1959, in Taylor, TX, to Frank and Mary Milligan, and as an albino black, he experienced a double dose of America's pervasive racial confusions. After failing to make a go of it as a sociology student at Texas Tech University, Milligan moved to Austin in 1981 with the intent to start anew at the University of Texas. His life took a hard left turn toward a music career, however, when he began showing up and singing at the regular Monday night blues jams at Antoine's.  Check out the music

There are, of course, thousands of other Texas music artists and great music at every turn across the Lone Star State. Do yourself a favor and do a Google or Youtube search and find a few hundred more that promise to bring chills to your soul...