Garth Brooks took the stage in Minneapolis over the weekend at the "So The World May Hear" gala for the Starkey Hearing Foundation. With just an acoustic guitar, Garth performed some hits and and music from his influences at a black-tie affair in a ballroom at the RiverCentre. Fifteen hundred people paid $1,250 each to hear Garth talk and play songs from his influences, which included Merle Haggard, Billy Joel, James Taylor and George Strait. He told the crowd, "James Taylor is why I play music. George Strait is why I play country." Ever since he heard Strait for the first time, Garth knew, "All I wanted to be the rest of my life - and to this day - is George Strait Jr."
