You Don’t Know Me: The Cindy Walker Songbook, a new and original musical tribute to the country songwriter, will be performed for the first time onstage at the Theatre at Teague High. Making its debut in mid-May, the show, created by Jeff Harrison and produced by Trinity Star Arts Council, will be directed by George Boyd. Featured will be Harrison’s band accompanying vocal artists from the area.
Cindy Walker, a charter member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, wrote a prolific array of classics, scoring numerous hits on country and pop charts across five decades. Her songs were #1 hits for Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Eddy Arnold, Ricky Skaggs, to name a few. Best known songs include “Cherokee Maiden,” “Dream Baby,” “In the Misty Moonlight,” and “You Don’t Know Me,” the latter being recorded by such artists as Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.
Born in Mart, Texas, Walker was reared by a musical family and began performing on Texas stages at the very young age of seven. By the time she was thirty she had her first chart hit, “Lone Star Trail,” recorded by Bing Crosby. She pursued her career in Los Angeles for more than a decade, becoming a go-to writer for Western movie soundtracks and even singing in a couple of movies herself. During this period, she was discovered by Bob Wills, who recorded more than 50 of her songs.
Walker began to realize that her true calling was composing, so she focused her energy on that as she returned to her Texas home in Mexia. As she continued writing, her songs found a place among a generation of new country artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Mickey Gilley and Asleep at the Wheel. Not to be confined to only the one genre, Walker’s songs have been recorded by pop and rock artists such as Bette Midler, Cher and Michael Bolton. Just prior to her death in 2006, Willie Nelson recorded an entire album of her songs
Cindy Walker is buried in the Mexia City Cemetery where the sculpture of a pink granite guitar marks her grave. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, she is regarded as one of country music’s greatest writers.
You Don’t Know Me: The Cindy Walker Songbook will be presented on May 19 and 20 at the Theatre at Teague High. More info may be found at www.TrinityStarArtsCouncil.org.
