“Don’t Do It In Texas.”
It’s a song that country singer Catie Offerman co-wrote soon after Universal Music Group signed her to a record deal in 2020.
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But on June 15, Offerman did do something BIG in Texas — she performed at a record-setting concert with George Strait.
It was a destiny that may have been put into motion at a San Antonio hair salon when she was just 14 years old. That’s where she met the King of Country — with her hair swamped in conditioning treatment, wearing a salon cape and a bonnet on her head.
She remembers thinking, “(I’m) meeting my hero in this outfit.”
It’s an epic story she’s retold countless times. Now, 16 years later, their paths have crossed once again. This time, on the stage.
“I think it was just kind of like everything pushed in that direction, and I don’t know, but I think that it all came back to meeting him in the hair salon,” Offerman said.
She calls Strait a “major influence” in her music.
Offerman grew up in New Braunfels. She learned piano at age four, has been classically trained on the guitar, fiddle, mandolin and accordion, and has been playing music professionally since she was a child.
“I played polka music for a long time, and that was like my gig. I was homeschooled, playing Octoberfest around the country, and, I just always loved music. Music was always a part of me,” Offerman said.
She received a scholarship to attend Boston’s prestigious Berklee School of Music when she was 16 and graduated in three years.
Influenced by artists like Ray Price, Bob Wills and Alison Krauss, Offerman then decided it was time to get back to her country roots.
“I’m like, you know, at some point, I gotta play some gigs that, like, my friends are going to want to come out, too,” Offerman joked.
“The goal for me was never like, oh, I want to be famous or all this,” she said. “I was just always curious and always wanting more of like, okay, well, I play fiddle. Now, let’s play guitar. We’re writing songs. All right, let’s try singing. All right, now, let’s try playing on stage and it be my own band. I’ve just loved the journey, you know. And so for me, it’s just always been fun chasing that.
And playing at Kyle Field in College Station in front of 110,905 fans was the epitome of fun.
“To see that many people watching, just good country music. There wasn’t like some fancy light show, there wasn’t glitter falling from the sky, you know, it was just honest country music (with) no tracks behind there,” she said. “It’s just the raw country music of connecting with people. And it just reminded me that people still love that. Like they’re not looking for, you know, they don’t have to have all the fancy stuff always.”
Offerman still calls Texas home even though she lives in Nashville with her husband when she’s not playing gigs across the country.
And even though she said it feels like yesterday, she’s had a long road between playing Wurstfest and polka gigs and playing in front of a sold-out stadium.
“I’ve played everything from funerals to pizza parlors to weddings, you know, whatever. I’ve done it all,” Offerman said.
Her music career has taught her patience and perseverance because it’s not every day that you get a call from George Strait. But, then again, on some days, you do.
“I am putting it out there in the world and saying prayers for more George, in 2025,” Offerman said. “That has been one of the biggest, surprises and blessings in my life. And if I just had a tour with me, Parker McCollum and George, that’s all I really need. That’s all I really want in life. So I’m like, add it to your prayer list, people.”
Check Offerman’s website or Instagram to get the latest on her tour dates including a still-to-be-announced show at Gruene Hall in October.
Want to hear how Catie Offerman first met George Strait in a San Antonio hair salon? Watch the video below to hear her tell it: