George Strait and special guest Clay Walker will perform at 8

p.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Thompson-Boling Arena. Strait, with

eight certified platinum albums and over a dozen certified gold, is

definitely a man in the top of his field. His latest album, Easy Come,

Easy Go, continues his tradition of classic country and strong

songwriting.

Something of a country Renaissance man, Strait doesn’t confine himself to

one form of expression. Besides playing both guitar and piano, he is active

in steer-roping (a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association),

hunting, fishing and golf.

He has also had success in film, with the critically acclaimed Pure

Country. While many musician-to-actor crossovers are instantly

regrettable, Strait’s performance was strong and honest. Playing a country

singer who gives up the limelight to return home and work on a ranch,

Strait was able to handle a horse as well as he handles music.

Strait began his career in 1981, growing from innovator to standard-bearer.

His simple and clean hat-jeans-dress shirt look caught on with the

glitz-jaded country music fans and helped take the genre refreshingly back

to its roots. The success of his style is evident not only in his

platinum-selling albums, but in the two dozen awards he has received over

the past 15 years.

Easy Come, Easy Go features tunes written by some outstanding

Nashville songwriters. Dean Dillon and Aaron Barker, long-time

collaborators with Strait, return with the melancholy “I’d Like To Have

That One Back” and the tear-jerker “Without Me Around.” On the truly

classic country side, the album also features George Jones’ “Lovebug” and

“That’s Where My Baby Feels At Home,” which was co-written by Faron

Young.

Saturday’s show should be a great time for country music fans.