group. “I was really too little,” he said. “I was the mascot.” But then he caught one. It was a flounder. How big was it? “Big enough!” he remembers with a chuckle. Occasional fishing trips in his childhood gave him enough taste for the sport that it became a favorite pastime in his mid-20s. Now, his offshore fishing trips can easily become snorkeling adventures, too. He keeps a snorkel with him on his boat so that when he comes upon a group of dolphins or any other type of wildlife he wants to get a closer look at, he jumps right in. What type of fish he fishes for depends on the season and how much time he has, he said. But he has one goal in mind.
boat is docked in Freeport, are his secret spots.
CORPUS CHRISTI ROOTS Creager was born at Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi and spent his early years in the area. When he was five years old, his father, who worked as a civilian at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi,
“I KNEW HOW HE FELT. HE DEFINITELY THOUGHT IT WAS A MISTAKE. BUT I THINK HE WAS WILLING TO LET ME MAKE MY OWN MISTAKES.”
It was also during time spent in the Coastal Bend that he learned to dove hunt, which is still his favorite type of hunting. Although he still hunts deer once a year, he likes the socialization that is paired with dove hunting. After graduating from Tuloso-Midway High School, his college years started at Texas A&M University in College Station, but graduated from Sam Houston State with a degree in accounting. He later returned to Texas A&M to finish his agriculture degree – something he never really uses, but had to finish as a point of pride. It was in College Station that he first started performing songs he’d written and made a name for himself in the booming Texas country scene.
One moment when they looked up, they saw flashing lights, a .50 caliber gun pointed at them and Naval officers. The new regulations put in place after the terrorist attacks mandated that boats stay further away from naval vessels had just taken effect, and they had unknowingly gotten too close.
One of his early hits, “Having Fun All Wrong,” even has a line inspired by a moment early in Creager’s career. was transferred to Utah. The scenery changed dramatically Long before his fame, Creager performed on the Corpus from going fishing and spotChristi downtown seawall, ting seagulls to the mounhoping to collect cash from tains and citrus trees gave him an appreciation for other bypasses. Only afterward did he realize that walkers and areas of the country. When joggers don’t typically carry his family returned to Texas cash or care to contribute to when he was in junior high, a budding musician’s pocket. Creager didn’t know how to The line from the song referplay anything but basketball and didn’t know what a mes- ences one of Creager’s musical influences, Robert Earl quite tree was. Keen, and his popular song, Still, he fell easily back into “Corpus Christi Bay.” the Costal Texas lifestyle. He “I followed Robert Earl Keen learned to play football and from Dallas to the Sparkling spent a little too much time City by the Sea; I jumped goofing off at the beach with his friends when he should’ve up on the seawall and sang, Corpus Christi Bay.” been studying.
That’s about the only place he’ll admit to fishing in. All his other regular locations, whether in Port Aransas, Corpus Christi or near where his
“It was really hard to graduate high school being so close to the beach,” he said. “At least it was for me with the friends that I had.”
“All of the fish I intentionally catch are delicious,” he said. And although catching fish to eat is typically the goal, he occasionally finds himself in trouble, too. Just after Sept. 11, 2001, Creager and a longtime friend were fishing in Corpus Christi Bay near where Naval Station Ingleside was at the time.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Creager’s next trip back to Corpus Christi will also tie in with a concert in honor
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of his father’s 80th Birthday. Creager will perform at Brewster Street Icehouse on July 3 along with fellow Texas artists Max Stalling and Kevin Fowler. Bill Creager was in the U.S. Army while Roger was young, including serving as a Green Beret, and remained in the reserves for much of Roger’s childhood. “He was always in the military and in spite of that, he was fairly laid back as a dad,” he said. “He rode us pretty hard, but we probably needed that.” When Creager announced his intentions to pursue a music career fulltime instead of putting to use either of the degrees he earned, his entire family tried to dissuade him – except his father. “He didn’t say anything,” Creager said. “I knew how he felt. He definitely thought it was a mistake. But I think he was willing to let me make my own mistakes.” His father has since come around after seeing his son’s success, regularly driving from his home in the Coastal Bend to Creager’s concerts in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and of course, Corpus Christi. His father, despite his age, is the one who sets the pace, Creager jokes. “I’m trying to keep up with him,” he said. His father is known to join his band on stage when they perform Rancho Grande. “I have to do that song last,” Creager said. “[My dad] steals the show every night he hits a home run. I can’t follow that.”