Country music artist Curtis Grimes sold out his most recent show in College Station at The Tap in November 2019. This weekend, he’ll return to Aggieland at a new venue.
Grimes will perform at College Station’s newest bar and concert hall, Southerns, on Feb. 21 and doors open at 7 p.m. This event, like all ticketed events at Southerns, will be for 18 years and older. Southerns opened a month ago on Jan. 23 and will host Grimes’s concert with a full bar and concert menu available.
In 2019, Grimes received the “Entertainer of the Year” and “Christian Country Song of the Year” awards from the Texas Country Music Association for the second year in a row, according to curtisgrimes.com.
“I was a big fan of the Texas country scene,” Grimes said. “I stuck with it, got a couple of breaks along the way, been pretty blessed and here we are.”
Having competed on “The Voice” in 2011 and once opened for Kenny Chesney, Grimes said he learned a lot about the industry, but he owes his start in music to his college roommate.
“My roommate in college had a guitar and I just started messing around with it,” Grimes said.
This country singer-songwriter has toured across Texas, but said his favorite place to play is Gruene Hall in New Braunfels. Having attended Texas State University in San Marcos, Grimes said he has always felt an attachment there.
“I used to go to concerts there just as a fan,” Grimes said. “So, now getting to play there and sell it out is kind of surreal.”
The Southerns team is prepared for a big crowd, since Southerns’ opening weekend had six artists in three days, Bobby Lavigne, Southern’s general manager and director of artist relations, said. The venue has full access to the mall parking lot, so parking is completely free, Lavigne said.
“Last time he was here, he played The Tap and sold out 400 tickets,” Lavigne said.
Now Grimes said he has to make sure the show is worth the time away from his family. He said his family influences his writing the most and has changed his priorities.
“I’d rather come home now after our shows on Saturday nights instead of sticking around,” Grimes said.
As a Christian, Grimes said he didn’t use his abilities to share the gospel early in his career as he should have. Grimes has been putting more of an emphasis on his faith recently, even beginning the Ten Finger Ministry, which buys Bibles in bulk to give to missionaries. Grimes said he sells Bibles at his merch tables at concerts.
“I’m able to perform in these environments without drinking, without partying, without cussing and without living a crazy sexual lifestyle,” Grimes said. “I try to use my platform and music to share the gospel.”
Grimes tours year-round and said getting a weekend off is a rarity. He said he keeps releasing singles because it allows him to write more, tour more and is more cost efficient than full albums.
“We’re going in to record new songs next week,” Grimes said. “The goal is to eventually have enough songs to do an album.”
Grimes said his music is heavily influenced by a more traditional country sound with fiddle and steel guitar.
“I grew up on a lot of Alan Jackson and George Strait, so there’s a lot of influence from that,” Grimes said.
To buy tickets or learn more visit southernstx.com or curtisgrimes.com.