Charley Crockett Birthday

Charley Crockett was born on March 24, 1984, in San Benito, Texas — the same Rio Grande Valley town that produced Freddy Fender fifty years before. His mother raised him nearby in Los Fresnos on a tight budget, but music was everywhere: Tejano from the south, country from the north, and whatever she put on. He taught himself guitar at seventeen on a pawn-shop instrument she bought him after losing her job. He went on to become one of the most distinctive independent voices in American country and blues.

Crockett busked his way through Deep Ellum, New Orleans, New York, Paris, and rural Morocco before returning to Texas to build his recording career. He calls his sound “Gulf and Western.” By 2022 his albums were charting on the Billboard 200. He won a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album and San Benito proclaimed September 7th Charley Crockett Day. He plays C-Boy’s Heart & Soul in Austin when he wants to feel at home.