You might not know his name, but if you’re a country music fan you know his songs.

Dean Dillon wrote “Tennessee Whiskey,” recorded by David Allan Coe and then George Jones and more recently Chris Stapleton.

Dillon, a recording artist himself before pivoting to penning in the ‘80s, has also written or cowritten tunes recorded by the likes of Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Alabama, among many others.

A Tennessee native, Dillon’s enjoyed particularly strong simpatico with George Strait. The 19 Strait singles he’s written or cowritten include: “Marina del Rey”, “The Chair”, “I’ve Come to Expect it From You”, “Easy Come, Easy Go”, “She Let Herself Go”, and “The Best Day.” All told, Straight has cut 55 songs Dillon’s had a hand in.

A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, Dillon’s seen 26 of his songs topped the country charts. He’s had three of his songs become number-one hits within a year three: 1995, 1996 and 1998.

On Oct. 9, George Strait will headline a star-studded tribute concert, “Song and Stories of Dean Dillon,” at Huntsville’ Von Braun Center Propst Arena. Other performers confirmed so far include Vince Gill, Ronnie Dunn, Riley Green, Justin Moore, Jamey Johnson, Pam Tillis, Zach Top, Mark Chesnutt, Billy Currington, Gramps Morgan and Dean Dillon himself.

The 7 p.m. concert be filmed for a TV special to broadcast later.  Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Thursday via ticketmaster.com and the VBC Box Office, address 700 Monroe Street.

In recent years, the Von Braun Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, has become a hub for country music tributes. Previous tributes held at the VBC include concerts honoring George Jones, Randy Travis and Lee Greenwood.