The King of Country, George Strait mourns the loss of one of his close friends, Kent Finlay, a Texas-based songwriter and club owner who helped him land his very first performance. Finlay passed away on Monday, March 2nd, at his home in Martindale, Texas. He was 77 years old.
Finlay owned the Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, Texas, where Strait first played with his band, Ace in the Hole, on Oct. 13, 1975. “The truth of the matter is that every major label passed on George Strait,” Finlay told Nashville’s Tennessean last year.
Finlay also championed many now-famous songwriters. The Cheatham Street Warehouse has hosted a songwriters open mic night almost every Wednesday for more than 40 years.
“Merle Haggard did his part, but George saved country music at that time,” Finlay stated. “After George and Ricky Skaggs hit, all those pop acts started losing their deals, and record labels started going out and finding people like Randy Travis.”
Strait still to this day has fond memories of the small club that gave him his start. In the country music legend’s eyes, the loss of Finlay will affect the country music community as a whole.
“Country music. ..and just music in general really… lost a great friend today,” Strait said in a recent statement. “His legend will live forever in Texas, though. We’ll never forget our friend Kent Finlay. Sad day.”
Finlay is survived by his former wife, Diana Hendricks, three children, a granddaughter, three brothers and a sister. Our condolences go out to Finlay’s family.
