When I was growing up, my dad was in a country & western dance band called “Stallion.” It was the 1980s, so they did a lot of George Strait and Randy Travis and Dan Seals covers. I didn't really listen to country music on purpose back then (I was more into rock and pop, and, for a while, elevator music) but I still got a lot of exposure to the country hits of the day. 

In my 20s and 30s, I did go through a more intentional country phase. I've done a lot of guitar karaoke with my wife (who was a country fan all along) playing these old 80s and 90s country hits. During the pandemic, this was one of our main forms of entertainment. 

And it was during one of those lockdown singalong sessions that we came back to this old tune by George Strait, which was originally a swingy country waltz. But once I learned how to play it, I instantly felt like I wanted to do a funk/soul version. It's because of all the minor sevenths. It actually has quite a similar chord progression to "Easy" by the commodores (which, I know, is not a funk song, but still). 

I recorded this open mic version just to get it out of my system. But if I get ambitious I might do a full-band funk demo later on. Obviously drums and bass would make a huge difference.

For comparison, here's the original George Strait recording: