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Singer takes his act 'on the road'
By Shalina Ramirez
The Paris News
Published March 27, 2007
Most Texas touring acts earn their musical stripes the hard way on the road. Some trek from gig to gig in a luxury bus. Others settle for minivans or car caravans. Country singer/songwriter Dean Strickland hitchhike.
Strickland, 39, has bummed more than 600 rides to two dozen Texas cities in the last 16 months.
Right this second, he is "on tour" making his way from Texarkana to Paris, where he'll play Dillon's Bar and Grill on Saturday.
I don't stick my thumb in the air, Strickland says, calling from the road. I just walk down the road with my guitar. People stop and offer me a ride. I take them.
His slow odyssey began in September 2005, after he found himself in Austin with no car and even less money.
A friend sarcastically suggested he hitchhike back to his destination in Dallas.
Since that worked, I continued hitching, he said, and have been doing it every since.
Strickland, raised in Fort Worth, attended the University of North Texas College of Music before moving to California where he studied at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.
He graduated from the Recording Artist Program in 2002, Vocal Institute of Technology in 2003 and Guitar Institute of Technology in 2004.
Strickland first aspired to be a rocker but eventually discarded the black t-shirt and Dickies pants for a cowboy hat and starched shirt.
I picked up a guitar at 6-years-old and my dad taught me Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard some of his favorite music, Strickland said. Then my older brother taught me his favorites bands, the Rolling Stones and The Who. I grew up loving both country and rock. But I feel that, musically, I just need to focus on one.
He travels only by day, toting his Martin D28 guitar along with three bags, and sleeping when and where he can.
I plan to write an album of songs from the road, he said. I have written eight songs. Albums these days usually consist of 12 songs, so that's my goal. I have to make goals for myself to keep going.
Strickland uses a cell phone, a MySpace account and e-mail, which he accesses at public libraries, to keep in touch. He does his own bookings through live auditions or word of mouth.
I'm doing what I learned in college, Strickland said. I don't think I'm doing nothing with my life. I think I'm doing what I have to do in this business. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. If, I'm not doing music, I'm not doing what I'm educated for.
But Strickland's "tour" has not always been problem free. He has had two dangerous run-ins since the hitchhiking began.
On one occasion, Strickland was picked up by a driver who demanded money. When he could not produce any, he was kicked out of the car, with the driver speeding away with his belongings still in the car's open trunk.
"I jumped in the trunk, trying to keep my stuff from falling out," Strickland said. "When the guy pulled in a gas station to shut the trunk, I jumped out and said 'This guitar is my life.' I think he was sort of surprised. I don't think he thought he would see me again. That shook me up for quite awhile."
The second time, Strickland had a gun pulled on him, but convinced the driver to let him exit the car with his belongings.
"I wasn't about to leave him my stuff," he said. "Stuff that he had no use for. That one shook me up for a couple of weeks, but I wasn't going to let it stop me."
Regardless of his perils, Strickland generally believes in the kindness of strangers.
There are people I have to be concerned with, but I feel people are generally nice, he said. I do pray and allow myself to have faith in Jesus. I hold on to that and that I'll stay safe. I try to do that consciously as I'm walking down the road. I try to let that grow more and more every day.
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