This Texas Ex Is Singing His Cowboy Songs in Music City

By Genevieve Wood in Nov | Dec 2024, TXEX on October 31, 2024 at 4:05 pm | No Comments

Ask country music heavyweight George Birge, BA ’10, about the most cherished moments of his career, and you might be surprised at the answer. Even as the proud Austin native’s star continues to rise—including an opening slot on Luke Bryan’s recent tour and stretches spent on top of the Billboard charts—Birge points to hometown milestones as his most cherished accomplishments.

“Getting to play the Moody Theater was a pretty big jaw-on-the-floor moment—that’s the Grand Ole Opry of Austin, in my opinion,” Birge says between recording sessions. “Being invited to play there, getting to step on that stage in my hometown, felt like a really big deal for me.”   

“With that being said, the first time I got to play the Grand Ole Opry was a pretty insane deal, too,” he adds with a smile.   

Birge’s rise to country fame began with the viral TikTok success of “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” a tongue-in-cheek collaboration between Birge and North Carolina–based activist and influencer Erynn Chambers. Spinning country-pop stereotypes into a yearning ode to faraway love, the ultra-catchy release led to Birge signing with Music City major player RECORDS Nashville. Taking full advantage of his online momentum, Birge quickly released his 2021 debut single, “Mind on You,” which entered Billboard’s Country Airplay charts as a top five smash hit and has more than 20 million plays on Spotify.   

More than a decade before his viral blow-up, however, Birge cut his songwriting chops on the streets of Austin, performing on Sixth Street from the age of 14. Raised on a healthy diet of Texas legends including Willie Nelson, George Strait, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Birge continued to hone his guitar prowess as an involved undergraduate on the Forty Acres. Balancing his studies with Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity duties and a walk-on varsity golf roster spot, Birge moonlit as a solo performer, working the midnight shift at the storied South Lamar jam spot Saxon Pub.   

“It was definitely the songwriting phase for me in college, which is a big part of my story,” Birge says. “College is where you figure out who you are and what you want to say, and that had a massive influence on the music that came later.”   

After graduation, Birge landed a solid position in real estate, while he continued to harbor dreams of a music career. As one half of country duo Waterloo Revival alongside longtime friend Cody Cooper, Birge became a staple of the Austin country scene, headlining iconic venues from the now-closed Threadgill’s to sold-out sets at Stubb’s. Their 2017 single, “What Guy Wouldn’t,” broke into the Top 40 of the MusicRow charts, but national success remained elusive for the hometown group.   

When 2020 ushered in an onslaught of COVID-induced tour cancellations, Birge, in desperate need of an “artistic reset,” bowed out of Waterloo Revival’s record contract, shifting his focus to penning tracks for big-name artists and recording his own songs. Although initially hesitant, he joined TikTok on the advice of country chart-topper Clay Walker.   

“[Walker] made the point that you can either tour for three years and still not get in front of 3 million people, or you could make a compelling post and get in front of 3 million people in 24 hours,” he recalls. “It’s a tool that’s available and you might as well use it.”   

Thirty-second clips of Birge covering country classics such as George Strait’s “Check Yes or No” gained traction almost immediately, with “Beer Beer, Truck Truck” sending his social media following into orbit. When a slew of Nashville labels came knocking, the songwriter was prepared with a batch of hot-to-go original tracks.

Birge’s TikTok moment is no one-off success story, but a useful case study in the broader currents churning within the music industry. An unlikely but useful contemporaneous comparison is Chappell Roan, the sapphic pop superstar who burst to the top of the charts after a slew of widely shared online moments this year. Both artists devoted years of backbreaking work to honing their craft, hovering just shy of the limelight before breaking into the mainstream with the help of social media. This viral model, of course, has its pitfalls—audiences are quick to misunderstand artists who, thanks to the fickle whims of the algorithm, seem to appear out of nowhere.   

“You spend your whole life having the talent to be there, and then you’re waiting for the one day that the door opens so that you can back it up,” Birge says. “That was what those viral moments were for me, but people didn’t see me playing in bars with Xs on my hands since I was 14 years old, exactly for when that moment came.   

“I think that’s why it did take off so fast for us once the door did open—I had all these songs ready to go, and I knew how to play a live show after spending my whole life developing as an artist in dive bars in Austin,” Birge says.

But Birge remains unshaken by these external pressures, standing firm in his long-held mission to compose meaningful country songs. His 2023 debut album, George Birge: Mind on You, lived up to the commercial hype of its titular track, while last April’s excellent EP, Cowboy Songs, saw the songwriter continue to sharpen his melodically memorable brand of country-pop. Standout track “It Ain’t Austin” sees the Nashville transplant yearn for the launchpad of his career: “It ain’t front row on an ACL high/It ain’t last-call kissing in the rain under Sixth Street lights.”

Thinking on his most recent release, Birge expresses his gratitude for the doors his newfound fame has opened: “Every day, I’m in the room writing with some of the most accomplished songwriters in the world, [and I] have them lending their talents to tell my story. I feel like I was able to put out the best record that I’ve ever been a part of—that makes me really proud as an artist.”   

Unlocking larger venues with each passing year, the Moody College graduate cites his UT education—particularly his major in public relations—as a major help to his music career. Stage fright is no issue for the well-trained Longhorn.  

“I think it is the best major I could have possibly had there,” he says. “When I stand on stage in front of 10,000 people, I can put my shoulders back, walk out there, and feel like I know who I am, instead of being afraid to address that crowd.”  

As of late, Birge can be found enjoying family life with his two sons, George and Luke, and wife Kara, BA ’10 and Texas Pom alumna. He’s also logging long hours in the studio, updating Cowboy Songs into a full-length album. Fans enjoyed the release of the new single “Missin’ Tonight” in September, with more music to follow by the year’s end. As he continues to check off career milestones at lightning speed, one major item remains on his bucket list—a hopeful (at least partial) return to his beloved Austin.  

“Getting up and running in country music, you kind of have to be in Nashville with labels and the studios,” Birge says. “But if things keep going the way that they’re going—which it feels like they are—I will have a place back in Texas one day, very soon.  

“My family’s all still there, my friends are all still there—and damn if I don’t miss going to all the Texas football games.”  

CREDITS: From top, Landon Bonneville; Rich MGMT; Landon Bonneville