George Strait is, without a doubt in my mind, the absolute greatest country artist who has EVER lived. 60 #1 hits without every giving up the cowboy image or neo-traditional sound. He’s been my favorite artist for nearly 2/3 of my life, and I have been blessed enough to see him four times live. I would have killed, literally killed, to be at last night’s George Strait concert in Arlington, Texas. I almost went, too – even just six days ago I still didn’t know I was going to do, but in the end, couldn’t quite swing it.
I knew I would absolutely lose it during the final “The Cowboy Rides Away” if I made it in person. But I didn’t expect to lose it just watching the clip on my laptop.
I should have gone to Dallas. I should have thrown every last bit of caution to the wind and gone to Dallas. And yet, he’s only retired from TOURing, not PERFORMing… he promises a few more one-off shows are still to come… my best guess is that that means some San Antonio area concerts and a few more shows at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo… something tells me I’ll get to the see king once or twice more yet, the good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.