Musician fulfills passion through hitchhiking

by Thomas Mooney, staff writer 

“When the Lord made me, He made a Ramblin' Man.”

-Hank Williams

 

Few in the world can claim such a statement. Dean Strickland is one of them.

What makes Strickland different than his country singer-songwriter contemporaries you ask? What makes his story different and unique?

It’s fairly simple. When Strickland says he’s hitting the road on tour, he doesn’t travel by tour bus or van, he hitchhikes.

“Well, I’m into my fourth month of my fourth year of traveling this way,” Strickland recently told The Plainsman Press. “I’ve taken over 1,000 rides from strangers, some of which have become fans and friends.”

What’s so amazing is Strickland has had only two bad encounters. Both happened while walking south down Interstate 35 near Dallas.

“The first time, I had only been hitchhiking for about a month, and it was around 1:00 in the morning,” says Strickland.

A car driven by a man pulled over and asked if he wanted a ride. Strickland thanked him as he proceeded to put his guitar case and duffel bag in the trunk.

“I jumped in the backseat, since he had a passenger in the front,” recalls Strickland. “About a quarter of a mile down the road, the man started asking me if I had some gas money.”

“I told the man that I didn’t have any, and that’s why I was hitchhiking. He went ahead and said that they were going to have to let me out, and he pulled over,” Strickland adds.

About a 30 seconds passed while Strickland sat in the backseat, before the man finally popped open the trunk. After doing so, Strickland quickly jumped out to retrieve his bag and guitar when the man surprisingly started driving off.

“Luckily, I was able to grab a hold of inside of the trunk and managed to jump in the trunk,” says Strickland.     

Now just imagine, going down a highway in the middle of the night in an open trunk going around 65 miles per hour. Fortunately for Strickland, the man decided to pull over a few miles down the road at a convenience store to shut the trunk.

“As soon as he stopped, I jumped out and grabbed by stuff, turned around and the man was coming around the corner surprised I was standing there with my guitar case in hand,” remembers Strickland.

The other incident was eerily similar to the first. First, it was around the same time of night, in the same area of Dallas, and a man and woman passenger pulled over in a car telling him to get in and offering the trunk as storage for belongings. This time, Strickland said he would hold on to it in the backseat.

“Looking back on it, I can’t be for certain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same people,” says Strickland.

This time, the man pulled out a gun and demanded that he give him something of value.

“I just kept telling him that I didn’t have any money or anything of value except my guitar, and I wasn’t going to give it to him,” says Strickland.

Luckily, after a few minutes of pleading with the man, he pulled over and let him out without leaving any physical damage.

It’s safe to say that Strickland soon set up hours when he was going to walk.

“I stopped walking at night, and I believe that that’s the main reason why I haven’t had any more bad encounters,” says Strickland, before pausing, and then adding with a soft chuckle, “and I found a different route for walking in that area.”

After some eight years of going to school and studying music, Strickland decided to go ahead and pursue his dream and do what he loves so much, perform his music for others, no matter the cost.

Strickland first started learning how to play on his father’s guitar at the age of 6 and received his first personal guitar at 13 for Christmas as a present from his parents. It’d be safe to say that this would be his favorite Christmas gift growing up. The first song Strickland learned to play was the Johnny Cash hit “Folsom Prison Blues.”

“I remember listening to my dad’s classic country records while I was a child,” recalls Strickland. Apparently, all that time listening rubbed off. 

Strickland has traveled across Texas, Tennessee, and California, setting up his own gigs and playing everywhere from busy street corners and honky-tonk bars to churches and county fairs.

Stickland’s music style is much more Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt than Keith Urban or Tim McGraw, which serves him quite nicely. He’s written more than 23 original songs about life on the road, 13 of which are on his album “Hitchhiking Guitarman.” With titles such as “Why Did Classic Country Music Have To Die?,” it’s easy to see that.

What might come as a surprise is how technology-connected Strickland is to the world. Strickland isn’t just wandering across the state blindly.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some great people while traveling,” Strickland says gratefully.

Strickland has a laptop he received as a gift that he takes with him that has made it possible for him to keep an updated website (www.deanstrickland.com). He also has his album available through major music distributors such as Amazon and iTunes.

Strickland also keeps an updated blog, where he posts everything from recent news and photographs to new song lyrics and recent articles.

Strickland is proud of his self-penned original songs, but he also shows off his influences while playing shows.

“I like to throw in a couple of cover songs in during shows,” Strickland adds.

He has covered everything from “Does Ft. Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” by George Strait, to the country-influenced “Dead Flowers” by The Rolling Stones. 

As for how long he thinks he can continue this lifestyle of hitchhike touring, Strickland says that he doesn’t know exactly, but adds, “I’ll do it as long as I’m happy, but I don’t think I’ll be stopping anytime soon.”

So if you see a cowboy silhouette armed with a guitar case in hand walking into the fading sun down a Texas highway, it’s most likely Strickland on his way to his next destination doing what he loves.