Country Mike Blog

Happy Birthday, Me

Mike Sudhalter  |  July 7, 2009

I just found out that George Strait is releasing his 38th album, "Twang", on Tuesday, Aug. 11 - my 30th birthday.

He must have had me in mind when he pushed up the release date (joking, of course). I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fast-climbing success of "Living For The Night."

The interesting thing about the album is that it marks Strait's return to songwriting. He hasn't written a song for one of his albums since 1982. And he's collaborated with his son, Bubba, on several of the tracks, including "Living for The Night"; Dean Dillon was also a co-writer on that song.

The Straits teamed with Dillon again on "He's Got That Something Special."

The father-son team co-wrote "Out Of Sight Out Of Mind" and Bubba went solo, writing "Arkansas Dave."

Hopefully, Strait will perform some of these songs during his Aug. 8 concert at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

And it should be interesting to see if/when Bubba launches a career in country music.