Bobby Irwin black & white picture

Most of the time, an alumni spotlight features an alum who has spent years establishing themselves and honing their crafts--because most of the time it takes many years to get to the top. This spotlight is a little different. Bobby Irwin just graduated from QHS in May of 2021, and is already well on his way to rapidly establishing himself as a rising star on the Texas Music scene.

I recently caught up with Bobby Irwin and had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about life after graduation, as well as his favorite memories at QHS. When asked who his favorite teacher was, Bobby was quick to explain that there was no way that he could choose a favorite among the agriculture teachers. So his favorite set of teachers were Ms. Aguilar, Mr. Hammond and Mr. Lee. Along with teaching their normal coursework, Bobby learned a lot about character and respect from the three. Irwin stated that he has very close relationships with all three teachers.

Irwin stated that his favorite high school memory occurred one weekend he “ran security at an agricultural mechanics show” with Mr. Lee and Marcus Pollard. Irwin said they stayed for 3 nights and “had no sleep whatsoever!” He said it definitely a fun bonding experience.

He also had the opportunity to bond with Ms. Aguilar recently at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ms. Aguilar said, “It was an amazing time getting to go to Indianapolis, Indiana for the talent competition with Bobby! We got to meet many people from many different areas of our nation, but our Texas crew was the best! When they would start chanting "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby!" all of us would just smile.” 

It's funny now to imagine Bobby without Ag classes and FFA in his life. But Irwin stated that he was never really interested in Ag and didn’t join until his junior year in high school. He signed up at the urging of Mr. Hammond and Mr. Lee. They are the ones who sparked his initial interest, enticing him with information about the state and national talent competitions.  

Bobby competed in the FFA talent competitions his senior year, winning the Texas FFA Talent Winner title last spring. He played in front of 20,000 in Ft. Worth for that competition. Irwin said that he was more nervous at the state competition than he was at the recent national competition.

Irwin competed in the National FFA Talent Competition the last week of October, representing Texas FFA. He advanced to the finals on Friday, October 29th. He was named the winner on October 30th when he performed at Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts) in front of 57,000 people. Ms. Ag recounted her favorite moment of finals week stating that, “One of the neatest things was after watching Bobby win nationals, we all went to eat about 20 minutes outside of the city, since reservations were a terror downtown. When we got there, there were a couple of FFA chapters that started shouting "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby!" from Idaho and they asked if they could come over to Bobby and congratulate him. It was the sweetest thing.”

When asked about why he was less nervous at the national competition, Bobby said, “Not to sound conceited or anything—I was nervous a little at first—but it was more like another day at the office for me.” Irwin continued, “Once the crowd started chanting my name, I knew it was ‘go’ time.” Bobby played his now well-known arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” His rendition of the iconic song was said to have brought tears to the eyes of one of the preliminary judges at the national convention.

Irwin came home from finals to a surprise gathering of around 150 people who took to the downtown square on Halloween night to welcome him home and congratulate him. He even got out his guitar and played a little for the crowd. Bobby hasn’t taken much time off since then and is currently traveling and playing. Irwin has lots of plans for the future. He is writing and releasing singles and playing shows. He’ll be opening for Ward Davis in Buda on 11/18 at “Buck’s Backyard,” and then opening again for Davis on 11/19 at the “Magnolia Motor Lounge” in Fort Worth. On December 18th, Irwin will be home, and he’ll be headlining at Neon Moon.

When asked what being a Quitman Bulldog meant to him, he said simply, “never giving up.” He then joked about how he quit football, "so maybe I shouldn’t say that…"  Irwin gave up football, though, when he had to choose between opening for country singer Joe Diffie or playing a football game. Irwin definitely sees himself as a Bulldog, though—someone who doesn’t give up and who goes for what they want by working hard through any challenges that come along. Irwin spoke about the success the football team had this year and how much he admires what Coach Webber and the team have done to persevere and win some games.

When asked about what his favorite class was in school, he said welding. He said if the music thing doesn’t work out, he thinks welding might be something he would be interested in.  Given his talent, his attitude, and his work ethic, Irwin probably won’t ever have to worry about a backup career!

You can download Irwin’s music at Apple I-tunes, Amazon, or anywhere you download music.