Work History
Dixie Chicks

George Jones is perhaps the most prolific, renowned - and tormented - artist in the history of country music. His music has inspired and influenced many of today’s top performers.

Jones’ career began on the streets of Beaumont, Texas, where he performed for whatever spare change passersby had on him. From there he hit the honky-tonks, covering the popular country music of the day, which were the stylings of Hank Williams, Roy Acuff and Lefty Frizzell. He emulated his models and ended up doing recording work for Starday Records in 1955.

It was while he was there that he discovered the ‘real’ Geroge Jones and found his place both vocally and stylistically. For his efforts, he scored his first Top 5 hit with “Why Baby Why” and in 1959, had his first #1 hit, “White Lightning”, which was written by J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.

The 1969 union of Jones and Tammy Wynette produced many collaborations and hit records. Although the marriage went bust, a lasting relationship with producer Billy Sherrill was forged.

Jones’ erratic record label jumps and unpredictable behaviors involving alcohol and/or drugs over the years have made him a legend in his own time. Known affectionately as “No-Show”, Jones, with the help of his wife, Nancy, has cleaned up his act considerably and is happily living in Tennessee.
Work History
(1999) signed with Asylum Records

(1991) signed with MCA Records

(1971) signed with Epic Records

(1965) signed with Musicor

(1955) signed with Mercury

(1955) signed with first label, Starday

Painting houses, movie usher
Awards
George Jones has also won numerous Awards

Country star Merle Haggard has seen his share of hard times, building his career on where he has been and what he has done in his life. During the Depression, his father, a railroad worker, bought an old boxcar that was no longer in use and converted it into a home for his family. Haggard’s mother was a homemaker, who did her best to raise her children after her husband died when Merle was was nine.

Haggard became a runaway and spent a lot of time in reform schools. When he was 17, he got married and fathered four children. Times were rough and, although Haggard worked hard, he turned to armed robbery to make up the difference that his paychecks weren’t able to cover. In 1957, Haggard went to jail on a burglary charge. During the three years he was there, he joined the prison band. When released, he headed back to Bakersfield and found work as a musician. His life experiences took on new meaning and Haggard put them into his songs.

It was when Haggard’s “I’m A Lonesome Fugitive” made it to the top of the charts that he received a presidential nod from Richard Nixon, who proclaimed Haggard his favorite country singer. He was then granted a pardon for his past crimes from then-Governor of the state of California, Ronald Reagan.

Haggard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.
Work History
"(1990) Curb Records

(1981) Epic Records

(1977) MCA Records

Capitol Records

Tally Records

(1960) started performing in Bakersfield, California

(1957) joined prison band in San Quentin

hay pitcher, oil field worker, cook

(1990) signed with Curb Records

(1981) signed with Epic Records

(1977) signed with MCA Records

signed with Capitol Records

signed with Tally Records

(1960) started performing in Bakersfield, California

(1957) joined prison band in San Quentin

Previously worked as a hay pitcher, an oil field worker and as a cook.
Awards
Merle Haggard has also won numerous Awards

Reba Nell McEntire was the third child of four born to a working class family. Her father was a cowboy and her mother was a schoolteacher. A redhead with a level head, Reba McEntire has seen and done a lot in the twenty plus years she has been in the music business.

Her roots are in working cowboy country, and the work ethics of her forefathers is ingrained and evident in everything she does. With McEntire, business is serious business. In her case, business is entertainment.

In 1976, McEntire married rodeo cowboy Charlie Battles. He eventually left the rodeo scene to work with McEntire pursuing her singing career. The marriage didn't work out and in 1987 they divorced. She later married Narvel Blackstock, who was at different times a player in her band and her manager. Together they built the powerhouse behind McEntire that is known as Starstruck Entertainment.

Tough-minded but tenderhearted, McEntire does her best to keep in touch with her fans. She has written and published two books, sharing her life and career with the people she genuinely feels put her where she is. Be it movies, television, books or music, McEntire gives her all, her heart, soul, sweat and tears to everything she does.
Work History
"(present) MCA Records (1976) Polygram/Mercury, First Record Label "
Awards
Reba McEntire has also won numerous Awards

Clay Walker is best known for his traditional stylings of country music. He comes from a musical family and learned the guitar from his father and uncle, who had learned it from their father.

Walker began performing professionally when he was 16 years old, making the rounds in his native Texas and eventually branching out to his neighboring states as well. When he realized he wanted a recording career, Walker made a trip to Nashville, and took an old fashioned approach to getting in the music business door: he knocked - on every door he came to. Despite his persistence, Walker left Nashville without the contract he wanted.

Upon returning home, Walker carried on as usual. Being a hands-on guy, Walker handled all his "music business" himself until he was noticed by Nashville record label executive, James Stroud, who at the urging of a mutual friend went to Texas to listen to Walker for himself. Stroud immediately signed Walker to Giant Records.

Although his record label is in Tennessee, Walker makes his home in Texas with his wife and two children. Currently they live in a doublewide trailer overlooking their 650-acre spread outside of Houston. Plans for a house are in the works.
Work History
(1993) Giant Records scrubbing toilets, taking out the trash at the Goodyear Plant in Beaumont, Texas.

worked as a shoe salesman

(1993) signed with Giant Records (mid-1980's) Walker and his band trip to Canada, touring in Alberta. (1980's - early 1990's) worked as a singer in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Worked at the Goodyear Plant in Beaumont, Texas, scrubbing toilets and taking out the trash.

Worked as a shoe salesman.
Awards
Clay Walker has also won numerous Awards

Take away everything but his voice and his land, and George Strait is still a singing cowboy. He is a fourth generation Texas rancher with a working spread in South Texas and a home in San Antonio. His roots were planted in the soil of the ranch that has been in his family for nearly a hundred years. He learned as he worked and, in later years, earned a degree in agriculture. He took up music as a teenager and belonged to a rock and roll garage band.

Strait graduated high school and enrolled in college, but soon dropped out. He eloped with his high school sweetheart and joined the Army. The Army sent him to Hawaii and he found himself playing with an Army-sponsored band. He was discharged in 1975 and returned to Texas to complete his education.

Strait is known for longevity in the relationships he builds. While in college the second time, Strait formed his current band, The Ace in the Hole. In the rough and tumble music world, Strait has maintained extreme consistency in the music he records and the relationships he has built. He has had the same wife since 1971, the same manager since before his record deal, the same record label since 1981 and the same cowboy attitude with which he came into the business.
Work History
Managing a cattle ranch; playing honky-tonks

(1981) signed with MCA Records
Awards
George Strait has also won numerous Awards