The just-released music video for Scotty McCreery’s latest single, “Damn Strait,” pays homage to the “king of country music,” George Strait.
The clip, shared on Tuesday evening (Feb. 8), finds the North Carolina native visiting the historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, where George Strait himself played for years honing his craft before landing a record deal and launching his iconic country music career.
McCreery’s visit to the legendary dance hall, which was built in 1878, marked his first time visiting the famed venue.
The black-and-white music video features footage of McCreery and his band performing on the famed Texas stage intertwined with photos and memories of Strait’s decades-long career.
The clip was directed by Austin, Texas-based filmmaker Jeff Ray, the same videographer who also directed McCreery’s music videos for “Five More Minutes,” “This Is It” and “In Between.”
“‘Damn Strait’ is both a classic country heartbreak song as well as a tribute to George Strait,” McCreery shared upon the release of the video. “I knew I wanted to film it at a place that paid respect to both elements of the song. When my director Jeff Ray suggested Gruene Hall, where George performed regularly with his Ace in the Hole Band before becoming the legend that he is today, I knew that was the perfect location.”
Visiting Gruene Hall was something McCreery will never forget.
“You can feel the history and the music of country music’s past and present in every inch of that venue,” he added. “I’ve wanted to visit Gruene Hall for a long time, and now that I have, I’m looking forward to eventually coming back there to do a show.”
Co-written by Trent Tomlinson and Jim Collins, “Damn Strait” appears on McCreery’s fifth studio album, Same Truck. The song quickly became the fastest rising single of his career.
Throughout the track, McCreery references several of Strait’s songs, including ““Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her,” “Marina del Rey,” “Baby Blue,” “Blue Clear Sky,” “Give It Away,” and “I Hate Everything.”
“The other day right out of a Blue Clear Sky / You came on in my truck / I couldn’t turn it off fast enough / I tried to get back in the game / But this ole heart just ain’t the same / Hell I can’t even Give It Away,” McCreery sings in the second verse.
The track is one of two tracks McCreery didn’t write on his latest album, however, he says he connected with it immediately.
“Every now and then you hear a song that sounds so much like you,” McCreery recalled in a recent press release. “I grew up as a huge George Strait fan, and when I heard this song, I raised my hand to say, ‘I want this one.’ Every country fan has a George Strait story, and everyone has a memory attached to their favorite songs.”
FUN FACT: George Strait is the first country artist that McCreery saw live in concert and when he saw his show, he said to himself “I’m gonna do that one day.”
McCreery is currently in the midst of his Same Truck Tour, which continues through the end of February 2022, with support from Callista Clark, King Calaway, Kameron Marlowe, and Tenille Arts on select dates.
Following his headlining Same Truck Tour, the hitmaker will head overseas for the three-day C2C Festival in Ireland and the UK, as well as a few of his own headlining tour dates in Germany and the Netherlands.
Tickets for McCreery’s tour are on sale now at ScottyMcCreery.com.
