Ernie Durawa Papers

Drummer Ernie Durawa, who performed on Grammy Award-winning recordings, is best known for his work with the Texas Tornados (Freddy Fender, Flaco Jimenez, Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm.) Durawa began donating his archives to the Wittliff Collections in 2009 through Texas State's Center for Texas Music History. For more information on Ernie Durawa visit his website at: http://erniedurawa.com For more information on the Center for Texas Music history visit: http://www.txstate.edu/ctmh

In addition to his work with the Texas Tornados, Ernie Durawa has played with a number of prominent musicians: Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Delbert McClinton, Merle Haggard, Johnny Bush, Maryann Price, Floyd Domino, Doug Sahm, Flaco Jimenez, and many, many more. An on-line archive of 100 recordings from Durawa's career testifies to the depth and breadth of this influential musician's career. To access Durawa's archived recordings follow the link and scroll down to see the playlist on the left side of the page.

Durawa's gifts to the Wittliff Collections include historic photos along with certificates and plaques recognizing his musical accomplishments. For access to the Durawa archive contact the Archivist.

A sample of some of Durawa's photos, awards, and recognition appears below:

Left to right: Ernie Durawa, Doug Sahm, Atwood Allen, ca. 1970s
San Antonio-based Elk Hearts Combo, 1958, with Ernie on drums.
The Dell-Kings from San Antonio, ca. 1961. Ernie is second from the right, in shades. In the middle is Cleto Escobedo, who is now in the house band (Cleto and the Cletones) with his son for the "Jimmy Kimmel Show," which airs weeknights on ABC.

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