Happy 63rd birthday to King George! The legend was born on this day in Poteet, Texas, a small town outside of San Antonio. George would spend summers with his siblings working on his father’s ranch.
His interest in music started in high school.
“The great thing [in Texas] is that you can hear live bands in every town,” Strait tells USA Weekend.
“Live music is very important in Texas. It was good for me to go through that. I may not have been ready to play big arenas without that experience. Hell, I still get nervous about performing.”
Strait’s first official show was at a tiny little honky tonk in the college town of San Marcos, Texas outside of Austin.
“Our first gig was at a place in San Marcos, Texas, called Cheatham Street Warehouse,” Strait recalls.
“It sits right up against the railroad track. When the train came through, you just had to ignore it and try to play louder. We later played most every honky-tonk in South and Central Texas. Those were fun days, and I believe that gave me a good foundation for what would come later.”
Strait launched his farewell The Cowboy Rides Away Tour in 2013, choosing to focus on making albums but staying off the road.
“It is a lot of hard work and traveling. It gets to you,” Strait says of his decision.
“I don’t mind traveling that much when I can go somewhere and stay there for a while, but touring is different. You rarely see anything. You get there early in the morning and you’re resting all day, and you go in and do a sound check, and you do the show, and then — bam — you’re gone. So it’s not like you’re getting to go out and see the sights and all the cities you go to.”
George has made appearances since “retiring” and we don’t expect to see him disappear anytime soon from performing live, thank goodness because he will always be the King.
George Strait | Listen for free at bop.fm
