Port Aransas South Jetty

Guitarist thumbs, strums in journeys across Texas

Country-western musician Dean Strickland has a good ear. And his feet serve him pretty well, too.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER On the road again Country musician Dean Strickland plays a tune at The Wharf in Port Aransas on Monday, Sept. 3. Strickland says he has walked and hitchhiked thousands of miles to get to gigs all over Texas. Strickland, who played at The Wharf on Sept. 2 and 3, said he has walked and hitchhiked thousands of miles to get to his gigs throughout Texas the past two years. He doesn't own a car, and he has no home other than wherever he happens to pitch a blanket each night - sometimes at friends' homes, and sometimes camping outdoors.

Strickland, a 40-year-old man whose last address was in Dallas, said he lives the vagabond lifestyle partly because he can't afford a car or a home on the money he makes as a musician.

Also, he said, "I'm trying to reach a goal of establishing a circuit for myself. I would like to get 50 cities in order to make this. Port Aransas makes my 29th city, so I'm still on this quest."

Strickland worked as a meter reader in Fort Worth and then studied music for eight years in college before packing his acoustic guitar up along with a few bags two years ago and beginning his trek, which has stretched from Wichita Falls to Brownsville and other parts of the state.

Strickland said he does worry about the dangers of walking and hitchhiking long distances. He copes by praying.

"I get out on the highway and do silent prayers," he said. "I just ask that the Lord put it on someone's heart to give me a ride. And I ask that the Lord protect me whenever I sleep behind buildings. It's kind of a spiritual journey, in that sense."