Among the entertainment industry kudos that have no doubt earned him eventual entry into the Country Music Hall of Fame are four American Music Awards, eleven Academy of Country Music Awards, 15 Country Music Association Awards (his 66 CMA nominations are a record that may never be broken) and countless trade and industry achievements.

Since its inception, the annual George Strait Country Music Festival has been attended by more than 3 million fans and Amusement Business named it the #1 Touring Country Act of the Decade (the 90s).

Equally important to this devoted family man---named by People magazine as one of their 50 Sexiest Men---are his non-industry accolades. In 1989, President George Bush presented him with the Presidential American Vocation Success Award in a Rose Garden Ceremony, and in 1983, his alma mater, Southwest Texas State University gave him their coveted Achievement Medal. Strait, who hosts a team roping competition every year, is also a proud card-carrying member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He is an avid outdoorsman who loves to hunt, fish and golf; and an expert horseman who breeds quarter horses and has ownership in several thoroughbreds he hopes will one day win the Kentucky Derby, an event he attends every year.

It's a good life, but one that was achieved only after years of hard times and hard work: performing night after night in clubs and honky-tonks all over Texas, and several ill-fated trips to Nashville before finally being signed to his first recording contract in 1981. At the time, when the Nashville sound leaned more towards pop than twang, odds were against the cowboy in the white Resistol hat, Wrangler jeans and boots, making no excuses for his traditional Texas roots. But his first single, "Unwound," proved to be a shot in the arm to radio play lists and for fans who sorely missed the traditional sounds of steel guitar and twin fiddles. Strait stuck to his guns and as a result has spent the past 20 years making an indelible mark on country music.

Nothing much has changed about George Strait in the past two decades. When it comes time to get down to business, Strait cuts right to the chase. For his latest MCA Nashville album, he again tapped Tony Brown to serve as his co-producer on the project. Brown, who has overseen the recording careers of some of country music's most awarded and successful stars, has been working with Strait since the album Pure Country, the soundtrack for the 1992 movie of the same name that starred Strait and was among the Top-Ten box office grossing films for four consecutive weeks. The album went on to become Strait's most successful studio record, selling six million copies to date.

Strait, who often spends hours driving his truck around his south Texas ranch with a box full of demo tapes in the passenger seat, never stops looking for good songs. "Tony, Erv [Strait's manager Erv Woolsey] and I are always looking for great material, so I listen to songs all the time," says Strait. "We get more focused on making selections as it gets closer to when we'll record. It's a joint effort, because I consider their opinions and expertise, but the final decision is mine.

"Melody is the first thing I hear in a song," he continues. "If I like the melody, I'll pay a little closer attention to the lyric. And then, if everything measures up, I'll do it."

While making arrangements for studio time, it is crucial to Strait's comfort zone that his favorite musicians are right there with him. "You know, George has had the same road band forever, and The Ace in the Hole Band is the best there is," explains Brown. "He wouldn't be comfortable on stage without them. He also has his studio band. He has been playing with the same guys for years, and if one of them is not available he will re-schedule the dates. And the musicians love it, too. By the time they finish that first song, they are this cohesive unit, they are all in George Strait-land and it's just a great place to be."

Strait enjoys the process as well. "When I first started making records it was really exciting, but there was also a lot of anxiety attached to it," he explains. "I wasn't sure what I was doing or how much I could contribute. I just wanted to make a hit record. Recording now as opposed to then is night and day. I'm a lot more relaxed, and in control, and that whole intimidation factor is gone. I consider all these guys to be friends, and it's great to see them again, spend time together, kid around with each other. When we get together it's a lot of fun."

Still, when Strait comes to Nashville, and shows up at the studio, he wastes no time. "Some artists take months to record an album," says Brown. "That's not George. He is so strong musically. The difference between George and other artists is that they feel the pressure of having to keep the heat turned up on their career, and making a hit record every time in, and they try to figure out what a hit record sounds like at that particular time. George isn't trendy and doesn't rely on what's hot or hip-he is hot and hip, no matter what. He is one of a very few country artists who is traditional, but also contemporary. He is in a place where he is in his own category and just in charge. He has a great vision of himself as an artist and he doesn't have to re-invent himself every time he goes into the studio. Just like his live performances, he doesn't have to rely on a lot of bells and whistles. The man just sings, and his music is the entertainment."

Strait relies on his instincts as a great song man, then takes those songs and through his masterful gift as an interpreter, makes them his own. According to Billboard Monitor, George Strait is the second most-played artist in all genres of music. He is a cornerstone of any country radio station's playlist, whether that station is in a major metropolitan market like Los Angeles or Detroit, or a small AM station in the rural heartland of America. At any time of the day, a listener might hear Strait's current hit, then not much later, classics like "Unwound" or "Amarillo By Morning" or "All My Exes Live in Texas." What they have in common is they are instantly recognized as George Strait songs, because he doesn't sound like anyone else.

The ten songs on The Road Less Traveled are bound to be tacked onto the lengthy list of Strait hits. The album opens on a plaintive note, with "She'll Leave You With A Smile," a no-regrets tune about living, loving and being left. "Run" the album's first single release, delivers a sexy, urgent message no woman could resist. Strait also reinterprets fellow Texan Rodney Crowell's lively ode to dockside dives and harbor juke joints, "Stars On The Water."

On every record, Strait digs deep into country music archives to find tunes undiscovered or long forgotten, and his extensive familiarity with obscure titles surprises people, including his own producer. "George always loves to do a couple of old tunes for each album," says Brown. "He's constantly pulling out songs that you've never heard of before. The songs he remembers are just amazing." For this album, he revived "The Real Thing" written by Chip Taylor and recorded by O.B. McClinton and Stoney Edwards in the late 70s; and "Good Time Charley's" a 1969 hit for Del Reeves, written by Jerry Chesnut.

When it's time for love, Strait lays it all on the line: "Don't Tell Me You're Not In Love" is a seductive promise to a reluctant, yet hopeful lover; and "Living and Living Well" is a buoyant tribute to the rewards of sharing the good life with someone you love. On the flip side, loneliness and heartache are given a wistful Spanish lilt in "The Middle of Nowhere."

Dean Dillon is one of Strait's favorite songwriters; he co-wrote his very first single, and has remained a constant in his career. According to Brown, "Dean's melodies fit George's voice, and he writes like George thinks, very matter-of-factly and down-to-earth." For this album, Dillon contributes, with co-writer Buddy Brock, the title cut. "The Road Less Traveled" is a matter-of-fact, down-to-earth, yet hauntingly thoughtful and provocative rumination on the choices one makes and chances one takes in life.

Finally, the album closes with "My Life's Been Grand."

"'My Life's Been Grand' is a beautiful song that I have loved for years," says Strait. "It had been in the back of my mind to record for a long time, but it wasn't until I started doing it live that I began to feel comfortable with it, and committed to recording it. It was written by the great Merle Haggard, who has always been such a strong influence on me. And this song has so much truth in it about me. For me, the title says it all."

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