Dean Strickland: Baylor to Brownwood

Nomadic rock 'n' roll musician hitchhikes to destiny

April 27, 2006

Gretchen Blackburn | Lariat Staff Baylor University - Waco Texas
Thirty eight-year-old Dean Strickland is a traveling musician who is making his way through Texas by hitching rides and performing shows in whatever city he happens to land in.

by GRETCHEN BLACKBURN,
reporter

With his thumb out in the wind, Dean Strickland treads the long sea of pavement leading north on Interstate 35.
His spirit is energetic and optimistic, but his dusty T-shirt and sunburned brow show the wear of his travels.
Once arriving at his destination, he seeks out local radio stations and newspapers to get publicity for his shows.
Sometimes he spends the afternoon practicing or writing songs. At night, he either sleeps at friends' houses or under the stars.
Strickland's unconventional approach to breaking into the Texas music scene -- hitchhiking from town to town, show to show -- has brought added interest to the 38-year-old musician's repertoire.
Though his love for classic rock 'n' roll seeps into his music, the Texas twang and two-step beat he's learned on his journeys is most striking in his recent single "I Love Texas (It's My Home)."
Hitchhiking, he said, isn't his first choice of transportation. But without a car, it's his only option.
He now carries an estimated 67 pounds of baggage with him on the road, but he said it's lighter than the unhappiness he carried as a 28-year-old working in Dallas.
After selling his house and most of his possessions, Strickland left his job to pursue music at the University of North Texas, and later the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif. There, he spent several years honing his guitar and vocal skills and experiencing the hard knocks of a musician's life.
"From the beginning, I knew it wasn't going to be easy," he said. "But I knew I had to try to do what I love."
While walking the miles stretching between his gigs, Strickland has dodged several life-threatening encounters.
While in Oak Cliff, a Dallas neighborhood, he was almost robbed by people offering him a ride and narrowly escaped after being dragged behind the person's car, clinging to his possessions.
On another occasion in the same area, he said another person pulled a gun on him and demanded his bags in return for his life. He again escaped unharmed, guitar in hand.
"There was no way I was going to give up my guitar," he said. "It's my life."
Playing to the tough image of a musician, he jokes that he accepts rides from strangers without fear; it's "the adventure" he likes.
"But now I don't really like to travel at night," Strickland said. "Especially in that area of the city."
He began traveling on foot to shows in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Dallas, Abilene and Austin in September, and measures his success with business cards.
"I started out with 250 cards, and I've got about 40 left," Strickland said. "It just goes to show all the people I've been able to meet."
The gigs don't pay much, and at times he plays for free, but every day, he said, he wakes up with a positive attitude because he's doing what he loves.
Usually, Strickland said, he's able to find rides along the highways. Most of the time, it's the driver's first time to pick up a hitchhiker, he said.
"I think people sense that I'm a nice guy," Strickland said. "It helps that I'm traveling alone."
Darrel Kinard of Corpus Christi said he stopped to give Strickland a ride, though he doesn't normally pick up hitchhikers. Strickland was in a busy part of San Antonio at the time, and Kinard said he felt compassion for Strickland when he saw the guitar.
"I've been around the music scene in San Antonio and wanted to help the guy out and give him a ride," Kinard said.
Describing Strickland as a "dedicated and polite man," Kinard said he believes Strickland has a chance at making a good living in the music scene if he focuses on one genre and style.
"Once he finds a focus and really develops that, I think he'll do just fine," he said.
Strickland's mother Bobbie, who lives in Bowie, said she worries about Strickland's safety as he hitchhiking from city to city but knows he's motivated and dedicated to his dreams.
"He gets up every morning and makes his own choice to do this. I can only be happy that he's happy," she said.
Strickland's sacrifices, he said, are necessary to reach his ultimate goal -- to earn enough money to travel more comfortably.
Although he's written and recorded 40 songs, Strickland said he's not disappointed that he doesn't have a record contract.
"I just want to play music and be happy," he said. "I walk in faith -- of God and in myself -- and I'll keep walking because it's allowing me to play my music."
Strickland will take the stage from 5-9 p.m. Friday at Treff's.

source: http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=40472
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Musician hitchhikes gig to gig



Yesenia Hernandez

Posted: 9/15/06

Dean Strickland walks his way across Texas highways in search of places that are willing to let him play his music - whether it is for pay or for tips, to him it doesn't matter.
Strickland has many years of music experience. He has been singing and playing the guitar since he was 6 years old. He attended Tarrant County College for two years then transferred to the NT College of Music where he was enrolled from 1997-2001. He then moved on to the Musicians Institute in Hollywood where he graduated in recording, guitar and voice.
He began his hitchhiking journey one year ago this month.
At one point he led a "regular" life, he said. At 19 he had a job reading water meters, he had a house and a truck, but he wasn't happy. He decided to give Hollywood a shot, so he sold his possessions. Hollywood gave him more musical experience, but he decided to move back to Texas in July 2005.
In September 2005 he played on Sixth Street in Austin but didn't make enough tips to buy a ticket to Dallas. He said that was when he decided to follow a friend's advice to give hitchhiking a try.
So far, he has walked to and from 14 cities including Denton, Dallas, Lubbock, College Station, Austin and Amarillo. He has played at various coffee houses and bars in those cities, including Cafe Brazil in Dallas and Cool Beans in Denton.
The 39-year-old hitches rides from time to time, but he never lifts his thumb. He carries his belongings on his back and on his shoulders. Three bags and a guitar are all that he owns, along with his passion for music.
Strickland said he goes from city to city not knowing how far he is going to go that day or where he is going to sleep.
"After I walk a lot of miles, after a hundred cars have gone by, someone offers me a ride," he said.
When he gets lonely out on the road he uses his pre-paid cell phone, which he also uses to schedule gigs.
"I call my mom a lot, my brother, my friends, and I have my guitar," he said.
When he doesn't have a place to stay, he is willing to sleep behind buildings, and he often does. He said one time he slept on top of a building, and once he slept on a battery tank.
"There's gonna be lots of that still," he said. "Last night I slept in a parking lot."
He rarely spends money on hotels. He said at one time he had enough money for a hotel room because he received $1,500 after suing Greyhound Lines in small claims court. The incident involved a not-so-nice bus driver who punched Strickland in the face.
Sometimes he gets lucky, and he gets picked up by a kind soul who is willing to take him in for the night, he said.
The day of the interview he was picked up by a horse salesman who let him stay at his ranch outside of Denton.
At times he gets picked up by truck drivers.
Jim Berry picked Strickland up on his way from Austin to Dallas in July.
"I'm a musician myself, and I saw him out in the hot sun," Berry said. "He's a real nice fellow and he had a real nice Martin guitar, I know he had to get to a gig in Dallas."
Marc Jeffreys also picked Strickland up when he was walking from Dallas to Denton.
"I used to hitchhike when I was a kid, too," Jeffreys said. "At least he is following his dream."
Nowadays, he only walks during daylight. He has had a couple of bad experiences with night walking. He said one time a man picked him up and pointed a gun at him. Another time he was dragged along the highway. Both times the men wanted money or something of value, but Strickland had nothing to offer them, he said.
Strickland was dragged across the highway because he didn't want to let his guitar go. It was in the trunk of the car that had picked him up. He said the driver sped off in an attempt to take his belongings, but Strickland hung on the back of the car to save his guitar, and thankfully, he succeeded.
"My guitar is my life," he said.
Bobby Griffith, Strickland's friend since 2001, said he worries about Strickland hitchhiking but knows his friend is determined to make a living as a musician. Strickland's mom is often concerned, too.
"I'd rather he didn't do that, all by himself on the street, but he's gonna do what he's gonna do," Bobbie Strickland said. "I tell him to let me know he's OK. I worry when he leaves. I drop him off on the highway, and I get so sad."
She hadn't heard him play recently until about a week ago when he accompanied her to a senior citizen's dance in Springtown. The people there invited him to sing because of an article they had read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"I was amazed myself," she said. "I am really proud of him."
The next morning his mom dropped him off on State Highway 287, and he started walking toward Denton.
Strickland checks in with his mom often so she won't worry. He has hitchhiked to see her five times this year.
"If I go into a town not knowing anyone, I go to anywhere that has music," Strickland said.
He still plays for tips. He said he can't make demands.
"Any gig is better than no gig," Strickland said. "It'll all work out in the long run, as long as I hang in there."
Strickland is focusing on country/bluegrass music. He said his hitchhiking works out as a theme for his upcoming record, and he is going to stick with it. He didn't start out in country, though. When he was based in Hollywood, Strickland said he was part of a punk band named 4giveness.
In 2002 he created his own record label, Never Die Records.
"I'm trying to promote myself," he said.
His self-promotion has worked. He was recently featured in a front-page story in the Star-Telegram. He also got mentioned in Harder Beat Magazine's January 2006 issue.
Strickland said he is trying to land an endorsement deal with a boot company outside of Denton.
So far, he has hitched about 450 rides.
"I just keep walking," he said. "I want to do my best. I want to be successful."
Strickland plans to play five cover tunes and seven original songs from 8 to 9 p.m. tonight at Jupiter House, 106 N. Locust St. in Denton. Admission is free.

source:http://www.ntdaily.com/media/storage/paper877/news/2006/09/15/Arts/Musician.Hitchhikes.Gig.To.Gig-2279708.shtml?norewrite200609231122&sourcedomain=www.ntdaily.com