Dallas Honors Legacy of Ron McKeown, Chronicler of Texas Music History

The North Texas music scene has weathered what seems like an outsized number of losses in the past year, with the deaths of multiple key figures leaving many reeling.

Another significant loss is that of Buddy magazine publisher Ron McKeown, who died Sept. 5 from natural causes, at his Sulphur Springs home. He was 78.

A Dallas native, Vietnam veteran and Bronze Star recipient, McKeown cut his teeth as a photojournalist for military publications, beginning at Fort Bliss and continuing through a military career that concluded in 1971. Following his stint as a soldier, McKeown worked various jobs in journalism — both as a staff writer and a freelancer — including a stint with Belo Corp.

McKeown, along with the late Stoney Burns, was a founding member of Buddy, which launched in 1973. McKeown took over as publisher in 1989 when Burns retired, and served as publisher until shifting into a “publisher emeritus” role in 2020, which he held until his death.

McKeown’s eye and ear were on hand in Austin as the “redneck rock” popularized by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jerry Jeff Walker was taking off at the Armadillo World Headquarters and elsewhere in the early 1970s.

“He left an enduring legacy,” Kirby Warnock wrote in a tribute featured in a special memorial edition of Buddy. “While Austin, Texas, may have boasted a great stable of artists and writers, in my humble opinion that town never had a photographer as good or as prolific as Ron.”

That legacy will be honored at a Dec. 1 event from 2 to 5 p.m. at Poor David’s Pub (1313 Botham Jean Blvd.). A gallery exhibition of McKeown’s photography will be displayed, and attendees can pick up a free copy of the memorial issue of Buddy.

Music will be provided by the Michael O’Neal Band, Tutu Jones, Jimmy Wallace, Rocky Athas and Maylee Thomas-Fuller.

“Ron’s photographic work remains one of the defining histories of the entire North Texas music scene, and even of Dallas culture itself,” publisher Rob Garner wrote in the memorial edition of Buddy. “Though now physically gone, his life still exists in our memories. Buddy magazine will carry on in this spirit, and will also continue to promote his legacy.”