Died On This Date (January 6, 2011) Gary Claxton / Heybale
themusicsover Gary Claxton
DOB Unknown – January 6, 2011
Gary Claxton was a respected Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter and guitarist. As part of alt-country band, Heybale he was a popular weekly draw at the city’s world-famous watering hole, The Continental Club for nearly a decade. That group also featured the great Redd Volkaert of Merle Haggard fame, and Ernie Poole Ball who played with Johnny Cash. Claxton was born in Oklahoma and eventually moved to Nashville after winning a songwriting contest. But he quickly became disillusion by the business that is country music, so he packed up and moved to Austin where his honky-tonk inspired sound fit more easily. He later met the great Tom Lewis who invited him to join Heybale. Either as part of Heybale or fronting groups made up of other local friends, he was always a crowd-pleaser thanks to his golden voice and his respect for traditional country music. Gary Claxton took his own life on January 6, 2011. He was 50 years old.