George Ensle

George Ensle is a folk and country singer-songwriter and guitarist from Texas.

Biography Ensle was born in Houston, Texas on September 6, 1948. His parents gave him his first guitar when he was 13, after which he began to learn how to play classically. This classical training formed his unique fingerpicking style later in life.

As a teenager, Ensle joined the Houston folk club circuit, playing places like the Sand Mountain Coffee House, Theodore’s, Houlahan’s No. 2, Anderson Fair, and the Old Quarter. Though he moved to Austin in 1966 to attend the University of Texas, he continued to perform in both cities. Van Zandt would later include Ensle in a list of “contemporary performers he admire” - a list composed of Guy Clark, David Olney, Gamble Rogers, and Pat White.

In 1978 and 1979, Ensle was an artist-in-residence at economically disadvantaged schools in Beaumont and Victoria, Texas. He worked with elementary and middle school students to cultivate an atmosphere of creativity, encouraging them to write poetry, songs, and prose.