Easton Corbin Takes Debut Single ‘Strait’ to the Top 10

Easton Corbin is having a lot of beginner's luck! His debut single, 'A Little More Country Than That,' has been steadily climbing the charts -- closing in on the Top 10, with praise from fans and critics alike. One country station on Sirius satellite radio recently acknowledged that people were calling in asking the deejay to play the song by "that artist who sounds like George Strait."

Easton, who has wanted to be a country singer since he could crawl, admits that King George has been one of his heroes along the way, but is somewhat cautious about the comparison. "It's a great, great compliment to be mentioned with him," Easton tells The Boot. "But like I tell most folks, there will never be another George Strait. I'm not trying to be like him or sound like him, that's just kind of how it comes out. My biggest influences on my singing and artistry – including George – are Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley and George Jones. I tell folks there'll never be another one of those guys either. I just take those influences, and that's who I learned to sing from as far as my style."

So has Easton ever met George Strait?

"I did meet George," confesses Easton. "I met him in Austin (Texas) at a show, and it was one of those things ... It's different before you meet him, but when you actually meet him and start talking to him, it's kind of like, 'Wow! He's an icon!' I thought it would be easy to talk to him at first, but when I actually got up there and met him, it was like, what do I say? [laughs] I just told him the usual. I wasn't real original, but I was like, 'Man, I love your music, and I've always been a fan.' We didn't have much time to talk. He was going through the meet-n-greet stuff, but it was such an honor to get to meet him ... When you first think about it before you meet him, you think he's just a person like anybody else. But when you get up there and actually meet him, it's kind of like, 'Wow! ... this is George Strait!' He wished me luck. He was a real nice guy!"

Easton's self-titled debut album is scheduled to be released on March 2.

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