Jon Stork: Making It in Country Music on His Own Terms

SAN ANGELO, TX — Jon Stork writes country songs and is quite a performer. He's performing at the Sept. 13, 2025 Texas Country Tailgate at the Arc Light Bar and Grill Saturday night.

According to Stork, his decision to be a singer/songwriter was influenced by his college professor at the University of Houston.

"Are you really trying to do this music thing?" Stork recalls his professor asking him. When he said that he wanted to make a run at it, his professor, who was already a fan of his music, replied, "You need to leave right now and never come back!"

That encouragement came in 2016. Stork said his professor and many of the U of H staff attended his first album release party. Since then, Stork has lived the ups and downs of the Texas and Nashville music business.

"I hit the road pretty hard," he said. He opened for Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum often. His booking agency was a well-oiled Nashville machine, giving him more exposure than Stork thought possible. He performed in just about every state, opening for big acts. He was performing at Billy Bob's Texas, the standard bearer of all things Texas Country Music. Then, the COVID-19 shutdowns happened plus everything that happened thereafter and Stork re-evaluated his journey about three years ago.

"I felt that the booking agency was getting weird on me. Besides that, my wife and I just had a baby girl, and I missed most of the first year of my daughter's life," he said.

With that, Stork quit the big shows, moved to a rural farm west of Houston, and vowed not to go on the road as much as before. He continues to write music and record in Nashville but also embarked on a second job working with livestock, mostly cows.

"There's no better place to collect your thoughts than on the back of a horse," Stork said.

He's been using his slower pace and family time to reflect and write better music, he said. He is also recording great songs, some of them no one else in Nashville would touch, like the single Stork released in June, "Cowboy."

Stork heard a demo tape of "When She Calls Me Cowboy" sung by the late Daryle Singletary. The veteran country music star didn't buy the song and soon after recording the demo, 46-year-old Singletary died unexpectedly, adding a layer of reluctance for anyone else to record the Bubba Strait and Monty Criswell track.

"I asked if I could cut this song? I want to be the one to release the song and give it new life," Stork said. Songwriters Bubba Strait and Monty Criswell gladly agreed. "I also retitled it to just 'Cowboy.' I wanted a simpler song title," Stork added.

Stork's sound is big and has a cinematic country vibe. It's not like the newer southern rock Texas Country music sound exemplified by Treaty Oak Revival or a traditional country sound like Gary P. Nunn. It's somewhere in between. The songs to explore by Stork include:

• "Radio Cowboy" — Stork said the song is a cinematic song describing the journey through the music business. "It's about what I'm doing in the music business," he said. (Spotify or Apple Music)
• "Another Town" — It's autobiographical. Stork grew up in a small town. This song is about living in a town of 350 people, about the gossip around town, and getting trapped. (Spotify or Apple Music)
• "Rodeo Blues" — Written with Leroy Gibbons, the song reflects on Stork's short-lived life as a rodeo cowboy. He was a team roper and admits he had more talent as a singer and songwriter than as a header or heeler.  (Spotify or Apple Music)
• "Cowboy" is the first single off of a new record Stork plans to release in 2026.  (Spotify or Apple Music)

"These new songs such as 'Cowboy' are the best work I have ever done," Stork said.