Opry to Feature Paul Schlesinger

The Fayette County Country Music Club will host their monthly Opry on Monday, July 18 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in La Grange. The show starts at 7 p.m. and the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $7.

This month the Opry will feature Paul Schlesinger, Stacey Stark and Larry Wadell.

Paul Schlesinger is a fiddle player and vocalist from Taylor who specializes in traditional Texas swing, classic country, and country-gospel music. In July of last year he was inducted into the Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest Hall of Fame in Lawton, Okla. In 2018 he was named one of the top five western swing male vocalists of the year by the Academy of Western Artists. His recording of “You Were Meant to Ruin My Dreams” was named the Western Swing Song of the Year by the Academy in 2017.

He has over 10 years of experience playing music for cowboy churches. Paul’s band, the Knights of Texas Swing, have been playing all over the state since 2006. Paul performs an exciting fiddle trick show that pleases the toughest crowds. In 2018 he was named one of the top five western swing male vocalists of the year by the Academy of Western Artists. He was named its Entertainer of the Year in 2016, and Musical Artist of the Year in 2018.

In 2019 the Hall recognized Paul and the Knights of Texas Swing as Master Musicians.

Stacey Stark was raised in a musical family, everyone was expected to pick a part and sing along. Stacey has been performing the Opry circuit since the age of 18, from Texas to Oklahoma, Louisiana and Virginia. She has shared the stage with some of the top named artists over the years but her favorite moments were sharing the stage with her two boys. She and her husband David are now empty nesters and are enjoying this new stage of life.

Larry Waddell grew up in Bernardo. His early influences in music were Elvis Presley and Earnest Tubb because these were my Dad’s favorites. His brother and he started a band when he was 14 and even recorded a 45 record. He has played with bands ever since, even traveling for several years with a classic rock band way up in Michigan. He is currently working on recording an album of original songs with VanLange music in Houston.