Night crept toward morning in the Texas hill country, and Clay Walker's tour bus hummed softly, its darkened windows reflecting folks who were slowly-reluctantly-putting an end to a night of revelry in the adjacent rodeo arena. A yellow moon teased from behind the clouds now and again, and a nearby fire pit seemed to energize a silly gaggle of kids despite the late hour.
For Walker-music star, Texan, budding roper-this must have been the end of a perfect day. After spending his night singing to and laughing and dancing with a clearly appreciative crowd, he sat in his bus-snuggly parked next to a rodeo arena-and talked about another of his great passions: roping.
For a singer who loves roping, this had to be at least pretty close to as good as it gets. Walker was feeling especially blessed on this night, and why not? He had performed for nearly two hours only minutes from his future home, and now he sat in a leather chair on his bus, chewing the fat about roping, golf and growing up on a farm in south Texas.
It was nearing midnight, and Clay Walker was wide awake.
The 37-year-old has had his share of good days since growing up as the oldest of five children in Beaumont, Texas, and certainly this was one of them. He had just performed as part of the grand opening of the real estate development Estancia at Thunder Valley in Boerne, where the 1st Annual Rich Skelton Team Roping would be held the following day. He was surrounded not by music critics or media photographers, but rather by the people around whom he seems most comfortable: his family, his friends and dozens of the greatest ropers in the world.
"I love being here," said Walker, his black hair still sweating after the raucous set. "I'm from Beaumont, but I love this part of Texas."
And clearly he enjoys being in the realm of ropers. But before he linked into the world of rodeo, Walker staked his claim to a dream that was born soon after his dad placed a guitar in his hand at the age of nine. He's the first to admit that he's not riding around in the tour bus-graced with leather chairs and a flat-screen television-because of his roping skills.
No, Walker sits in the bus because of his music. After graduating from Vidor High School in 1987, he began his trek to stardom in the tradition of his fellow Beaumont native and country music legend, George Jones. He wrote songs and played his guitar in local clubs, and worked plenty of honky tonks in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and various parts of Texas.
He ultimately became the top draw for Beaumont's club, Neon Armadillo, where he was seen by producer James Stroud, who ultimately helped Walker gain a contract with Giant Records. His debut album went gold, then platinum, featuring his number one hit, "What's it to You."
His second album became a top seller as well, with videos that placed in the top 10 on Country Music Television and CMT Europe. Neon Armadillo was a long way away. He scored big with "Live Until I Die" and "Where Do I Find the Picture?," and in 1993 he was named Top New Artist by Radio and Records.
