This Week in Texas Music History: George Strait
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George Strait was born in Poteet, Texas, on May 18, 1952, and raised in nearby Pearsall. While enrolled at Texas State University in San Marcos during the mid-1970s, Strait joined a group of fellow students to form the Ace in the Hole Band. Since they insisted on playing traditional honky tonk and western swing at a time when progressive country music was all the rage, Strait and his band-mates had difficulty finding venues that would hire them. However, local club owner Kent Finlay booked them for a regular weekly show at his Cheatham Street Warehouse.
Strait soon went to Nashville hoping to land a recording contract, but most record companies considered him too traditional. However, Erv Woolsey, a former San Marcos nightclub owner who now worked for MCA Records in Nashville, arranged a recording session for Strait in 1980. Strait’s first release, “Unwound,” climbed to Number 6 on the Billboard charts and launched a musical career that has produced more # 1 hits than any other single artist in any musical genre. Currently, George Strait is second only to Elvis Presley and the Beatles in the number of platinum albums he has earned.
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