After dipping his toes in the band life with Rambling Country, George Strait returned to Texas and joined another group, Stoney Ridge (later renamed to Ace in the Hole Band). Strait's star continued to rise, and he eventually released his own album, "Strait Country," in 1981 to immediate success.
Despite all this, Strait never let the fame get to his head and maintained certain rituals to ensure that every fan had as personal experience as possible at his concerts. As detailed in The New Yorker, one such example is that Strait plays in the center of the area floor, with four microphones "arranged like compass points" around the circumference of the stage, during each performance. "Every two songs, he moves, counterclockwise, to the next microphone, so that people in each quadrant of the crowd can feel as if he were singing just to them," the article detailed.
In addition, Strait wanted to "evoke a familiar, unchanging present" during his career and does so by wearing essentially the same outfit every single performance: a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, Wrangler jeans, and a stiffly ironed button-down shirt.
Though not a ritual, another steadfast aspect of a Strait concert is his commitment to playing almost any requested song so that no fan is left disappointed.
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