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The singer-songwriter formerly of Victoria has had a long music career that has spanned decades. Playing in front of audiences across the country, he’s finally getting the chance to play for the people who knew him before he ever made a name for himself: His former classmates.
Everitt will perform Saturday at the Victoria High School mega-reunion for the graduating classes of the 1960’s. Everitt, a 1968 graduate, was approached by the 1968 class representative, Gloria Byrd Frie, to play at the event.
“She was actually my first girlfriend in first grade. We used to chase each other on the playground,” he joked. “I’m absolutely excited. It’s something that I feel is full circle. I love playing and it’s just going to be so neat to see these people and how our lives have unfolded.”
Everitt’s own life has unfolded pretty well so far. He was recently nominated for Singer/Songwriter of the Year by the Academy of Texas Music for the second time.
“It’s a tremendous honor. A huge lift,” he said.
Everitt added that he can’t remember how he first got involved in music. Music was just always around the house. And like so many of these stories go, he became hooked on music when he woke up one Christmas morning and there was a guitar underneath the tree.
In the 1970’s, he began his professional music career in the Austin nightclub scene. After graduating from college, he began touring the U.S. as a solo performer for Buddy Lee Attractions. Eventually, he moved to Houston, where his reputation as a songwriter and performer made him increasingly more successful.
Now living in The Woodlands, north of Houston, Everitt added that while winning awards is nice, it’s not necessarily why he writes songs.
“I consider songwriters just conduits; they speak for the rest of us,” he said. “When a song comes on and it touches you, you remember what you were doing the first time you heard it. What a tremendous honor it is to be a part of that personal reaction, to write the soundtrack for people’s favorite moments in life. To me, that is worth pursuing.”
He added that he’s hoping to create some memorable moments for his former classmates on Saturday.
“Who knows? Maybe someone may leave this weekend, and hear a song a year from now, and it will take them back to that wonderful evening they had,” he said. “’It’s truly a gift to be able to do that.”
Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com.