Watch the trailer for way overdue streaming series "They Called Us Outlaws"

"They Called Us Outlaws" – reassessing the legacy of Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, Guy Clark, etc – premieres at SXSW '26.

Happy Birthday Dale Watson!

Raising a bottle of Lonestar to honky tonk hero Dale Watson! Here's an interview, a chat with Otis Gibbs and some vintage clips.

Working For Billy Joe Shaver: Tales from the road and more

Billy Joe Shaver's guitarist  and road manager Jeremy Lynn Woodall says Billy Joe fired and rehired him many times.   

Happy Birthday Ray Benson!

Celebrating the birthday of Asleep At The Wheel's Ray Benson with some performances, interviews and stories about his pals. 

Ray Benson shares stories about Waylon, Willie, Billy Joe, Hag & weird Austin

Asleep At The Wheel's Ray Benson gives Otis Gibbs the lowdown on the whole shootin' match in two entertaining sessions. 

R.I.P. Kinky Friedman, 1944-2024

Sadly, singer/songwriter, author and humourist Kinky Friedman has passed away. His wit and wisdom will  be greatly missed. 

LINKS

New York Times Kinky Friedman, musician and humourist who slew sacred cows, dead at 79

Rolling Stone Kinky Friedman, proudly eccentric  Texas singer-songwriter, dead at 79

Rick McGinnis: Some Old Pictures I Took Kinky Friedman session

Happy Birthday Billy Joe Shaver!

Remembering singer/songwriter Billy Joe Shaver with an ACL split bill show (starting at 24:20), a chat about Waylon and more. 

Emmylou Harris salutes Townes Van Zandt & Billy Joe Shaver in Denver

Here's Emmylou Harris performing a great versions of  "Pancho & Lefty" and "Old Five and Dimers Like Me" at Levitt Pavillion.

Willie Nelson takes "Country Album" and "Country Solo" Grammys

Here's the scoop: 

Congratulations to Willie Nelson on his Grammy win last night! The legendary songwriter was awarded Best Country Album for "A Beautiful Time" and Best Country Solo Performance for his rendition of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever” at last night’s 65th Annual Grammy Awards. It's a big win for Willie, Billy Joe and real country music. 

The song is the opening track of the critically acclaimed album Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver which was released last year on New West Records & Pedernales Records. The 12-song set was co-produced by Charlie Sexton & Freddy Fletcher and featured renditions of Shaver songs lovingly recorded by George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Nathaniel Rateliff, Ryan Bingham and Nikki Lane, Steve Earle, Edie Brickell, Rodney Crowell, Margo Price (featuring Joshua Hedley), Allison Russell, and Amanda Shires in addition to Nelson. Upon its release, Nelson, who once stated “Billy Joe Shaver is definitely the best writer in Texas,” said  “He was just real; there wasn’t one phony drop of blood in him.” 

About Billy Joe Shaver 

In 1965, Billy Joe Shaver hitchhiked to Nashville and convinced the country singer Bobby Bare to listen to his songs. Bare quickly signed Shaver to a $50 a week job as a songwriter and recorded his song “Ride Me Down Easy.” Kris Kristofferson’s rendition of “Good Christian Soldier” and Tom T. Hall’s recording of “Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me” soon followed. Shaver’s breakout moment came in 1973 when Waylon Jennings’ landmark album Honky Tonk Heroes was released. Hailed as the first “Outlaw Country” record, ten of its eleven songs were written or co-written by Shaver. One of which, “You Asked Me To,” was a top 10 hit for Jennings and was later recorded by Elvis Presley. Shaver’s legendary debut album, Old Five and Dimers Like Me, was produced by Kristofferson and issued in 1973 as well. He went on to release more than 20 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Everybody’s Brother in 2007. His final album, 2014’s acclaimed Long in the Tooth was his first to chart in Billboard’s Top Country Albums. Shaver's songs have been recorded and performed by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Allman Brothers, and countless other legendary artists and his signature song, “Live Forever,” was performed by Robert Duvall in the 2009 film Crazy Heart. He was honored with the first ever Americana Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting in 2002, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Billy Joe Shaver died on October 28th, 2020.

Get a copy of the Billy Joe Shaver tribute album Live Forever from New West Records right here.

Listen to Willie's version of "Live Forever" followed by Billy Joe Shaver's performance of his song on Austin City Limits with support from his pal Willie Nelson and son Eddy Shaver below. 

Happy Birthday Billy Joe Shaver!

Celebrating the birthday of country great Billy Joe Shaver with the announcement of a new tribute album and some clips.

Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver

In honor of his birthday today, New West Records & Pedernales Records are proud to announce Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver to be released November 11th, 2022. The 12-song set was co-produced by Charlie Sexton & Freddy Fletcher and features renditions of Shaver songs lovingly recorded by Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Nathaniel Rateliff, Ryan Bingham and Nikki Lane, Rodney Crowell, Margo Price, Allison Russell, and others.  

 

The Texas singer-songwriter who died on October 28th, 2020 was an integral member of the Outlaw Country movement. A favorite among music legends, Johnny Cash once called Shaver “my favorite songwriter,” while Willie Nelson declared, “Billy Joe is definitely the best writer in Texas.” Upon the announcement of Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver, Nelson said, “He was just real; there wasn’t one phony drop of blood in him.” AllMusic called Shaver’s songs “among the greatest in the whole history of the (country) genre” while the Washington Post said, “When the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus.” 

 

Co-producer Freddy Fletcher wrote of Shaver in the liner notes, “His influence on the greatest of artists is what inspired this project. The album is a testament to his words and their deep impact on wonderful songwriters and performers. He’s a hero to so many, and we are honored to pay homage to his legacy.”

 

On the topic of songwriting, Billy Joe Shaver once said “when you write songs, and you write good songs, people will always remember you. Words will always outlive us. And if your name is attached to those words, you’re gonna live forever.” 

 

Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver will be available across digital retailers, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited to 500 “Old Chunk of Coal” colour vinyl edition will be available via Vinyl, Me Please, a limited to 300 Purple, Blue & Green marble vinyl edition will be available via the Magnolia Record Club, and a limited to 300 Gold & Green colour vinyl edition will be available via Heady Wax Fiends. A limited to 500 “Denim” vinyl edition is now available for pre-order via NEW WEST RECORDS right here: http://newwst.com/liveforever. 

Watch a couple of Billy Joe Shaver clips following the Live Forever track listing below. 

About Billy Joe Shaver... 

In 1965, Billy Joe Shaver hitchhiked to Nashville and convinced the country singer Bobby Bare to listen to his songs. Bare quickly signed Shaver to a $50 a week job as a songwriter and recorded his song “Ride Me Down Easy.” Kris Kristofferson’s rendition of “Good Christian Soldier” and Tom T. Hall’s recording of “Willie the Wandering Gypsy and Me” soon followed. Shaver’s breakout moment came in 1973 when Waylon Jennings’ landmark album Honky Tonk Heroes was released. Hailed as the first “Outlaw Country” record, ten of its eleven songs were written or co-written by Shaver. One of which, “You Asked Me To,” was a top 10 hit for Jennings and was later recorded by Elvis Presley. Shaver’s legendary debut album, Old Five and Dimers Like Me, was produced by Kristofferson and issued in 1973 as well. He went on to release more than 20 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Everybody’s Brother in 2007. His final album, 2014’s acclaimed Long in the Tooth was his first to chart in Billboard’s Top Country Albums. Shaver's songs have been recorded and performed by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Allman Brothers, and countless other legendary artists and his signature song, “Live Forever,” was performed by Robert Duvall in the 2009 film Crazy Heart. He was honored with the first ever Americana Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting in 2002, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Billy Joe Shaver died on October 28th, 2020.

 

 

Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver

1. Willie Nelson (w/ Lucinda Williams) - Live Forever

2. Ryan Bingham (w/ Nikki Lane) - Ride Me Down Easy

3. Rodney Crowell - Old Five And Dimers Like Me

4. Miranda Lambert - I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)

5. Edie Brickell - I Couldn’t Be Me Without You

6. Nathaniel Rateliff - You Asked Me To

7. George Strait - Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me

8. Amanda Shires - Honky Tonk Heroes

9. Steve Earle - Ain’t No God In Mexico

10. Margo Price - Ragged Old Truck

11. Willie Nelson - Georgia On A Fast Train

12. Allison Russell - Tramp On Your Street

LINKS
Variety Billy Joe Shaver to be saluted by Willie Nelson and country all-stars with tribute album worthy of an outlaw

NOW Magazine Recharged Shaver by Tim Perlich (July 19, 2007)

Billy Joe Shaver & Kinky Friedman Live Down Under

Without any fanfare, Omnivore just issued a 21-track live set of Billy Joe Shaver & Kinky Friedman in Sydney back in 2002.

Here's the scoop from Omnivore...

Before Billy Joe Shaver’s death in 2020, Willie Nelson called Shaver the greatest living songwriter. That isn’t out of line, as Billy Joe is a member of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and winner of the Academy of Country Music’s Poet’s Award. Aside from his own recordings, his songs have been covered by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Patty Loveless, and more, and even featured in Academy Award winning films like Crazy Heart.

Kinky Friedman is another singer, songwriter, novelist, and satirist. He holds the distinction of being the only artist who was recorded for Austin City Limits, but the show was never aired due to fears of the content being too controversial. He even ran for the office of Governor of Texas in 2006. His spiritual advisor for that campaign? Billy Joe Shaver. But, that wasn’t the first time they worked together.

“Ladies and gentlemen, two Texas legends, Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky Friedman!” announced Jeff “Little Jewford” Shelby before the nightly coin toss to decide who in this dynamic double-bill, quadruple heart bypass contender Billy Joe or singing crime novelist Kinky would go first. The spotlight then passed back and forth between the duo, supported in Vaudevillian fashion by guitarist Jesse Taylor, Washington Ratso and of course Little Jewford.

Depending on how you look at it or who’s talking, the Live Down Under tour probably shouldn’t have happened or it was the best thing that could’ve happened. Either way, it was a minor miracle most would say and now a thing of myth and legend.

It started when Shaver, still recovering from the loss of his mother, wife and son was lured out of mourning in 2001 by the Kinkster to do their “Two For Texas” tour that ended with Billy Joe unexpectedly suffering a heart attack at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas that August. Angioplasty was performed but Shaver, fearing the risks, was resisting medical advice to have quadruple heart by-pass surgery taking karmic instruction from Willie (Nelson) to get out and stay active. Soon commitments to bring the tour to Australia were made.

Kinky Friedman: “The doctors wanted him to have the surgery but he said no. And they didn’t want him going to Australia with Kinky. That it was the wrong thing to do. But Billy Joe was in a dark place; the recent family tragedies, the health concerns. Staying home with the curtains drawn and all its temptations seemed as risky as going. Willie and I both agreed, the best therapy he could have was to get out and have a good time.”

And it was.

Billy Joe performed every night like his life depended on it. And it did. And it pushed everyone to the same level of intensity. Featuring hits like ”Honky Tonk Heroes,” “You Asked Me To,” ”Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In The Bed,” “Sold American” and more, showcasing some of the best material from both writers’ storied careers, and delivered in a way that only these best friends and odd couple could. So put on Live Down Under, sit back, listen and perhaps come to appreciate these two unique artists in a way you hadn’t before. A one-of-a-kind experience.

Get a copy of Billy Joe Shaver & Kinky Friedman's Live Down Under from Omnivore right here. Check out their live version of Kinky's classic "Sold American" after the track listing. 

 

Billy Joe Shaver & Kinky Friedman - Live Down Under

INTRO COIN TOSS

GEORGIA ON A FAST TRAIN

WESTERN UNION WIRE

STAR IN MY HEART

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

OLD CHUNK OF COAL

SOLD AMERICAN

RIDE ME DOWN EASY

WILD MAN FROM BORNEO

WHEN THE FALLEN ANGELS FLY

MARILYN AND JOE

YOU ASKED ME TO

BEFORE ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE

HONKY TONK HEROES

GET YOUR BISCUITS IN THE OVEN AND YOUR BUNS IN THE BED

LIVE FOREVER

YOU WOULDN’T KNOW LOVE (IF YOU FELL IN IT)

RIDE ‘EM JEWBOY

OLD FIVE AND DIMERS LIKE ME

KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE

TRY AND TRY AGAIN

OUTRO THANKS AND GOOBYE!

Shannon McNally launches her Waylon Jennings tribute with "Black Rose"

Shannon McNally's gender-flipped version of "Black Rose" puts a new spin on Billy Joe Shaver's tale of an interracial affair. 

Here's the press release...

“This is high art right here —cotton field disco perfection, the first generator in the county. The chorus on this song may be the best chorus of all time,” says Shannon McNally of Waylon Jennings’ “Black Rose”—a Billy Joe Shaver-penned tune she just cut with Buddy Miller for her new album, THE WAYLON SESSIONS. 

“‘The devil made me do it the first time, the second time I did it on my own.’ Talk about the fight for good and evil and staring the devil down at the crossroads.” The grooving, lazy two-step feel of the original is magnified in McNally’s new version, accented by blasts of harmonica and Miller’s slinky baritone guitar. 

“I wanted the video (watch it below) to have some levity and to capture the original intent of the song, which I’ve always interpreted as good-natured but risky,” says McNally, who dreamt up an elaborate backstory for the song’s short film and its characters. “I envisioned my character somewhere between Gina Davis and Woody Harrelson on the set of the Barney Miller show. It was quite liberating really. I like the image of the open cell door and the notion that essentially I’m policing myself, because isn’t that what the dance of acting right is all about?”

With THE WAYLON SESSIONS, McNally set out to revisit the songs and spirit of Waylon Jennings, a legend with whom she’s always had an ongoing fascination. “I have always loved his defiantly existential but immediately accessible common man’s music and how it boogies,” says McNally. But her collection of tunes ended up being not so much a tribute as it is a recontextualization; a nuanced, feminine rendering of a catalog long considered a bastion of hetero-masculinity. That’s not to say McNally has a softer, gentler take on Jennings’ songs—in fact, just the opposite. Over and over again, she manages to locate a smoldering intensity, a searing hurt buried deep within the music’s deceptively simple poetry, and she hones in on it with surgical precision on this new album, which features special guests including Jessi Colter, Buddy Miller, Rodney Crowell, and Lukas Nelson. “The world has changed a lot since these songs were first recorded,” says McNally. “I have never heard a woman sing any of them, but these tunes are poignant and relevant to me and to women in general right now. As a songwriter, bringing a song to its full potential so that a larger or different audience can connect is all I’ve ever cared about.”

McNally knew that assembling the right band would be essential to capturing Jennings’ mix of laid back charm and swaggering bravado, so she called AMA-winning guitarist Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart) to help her assemble a team that included drummer Derek Mixon (Chris Stapleton), pedal steel legend and longtime Jennings bandmate Fred Newell, Texas keyboard mainstay Bukka Allen (Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker), and bassist Chris Scruggs (Marty Stuart, Charlie Louvin). Working live and raw, they tracked sixteen songs in just five days, relying on instinct and intuition to guide their decisions at every turn. As brilliant as the band’s performances are, it’s McNally that breathes new life into the music here, tackling the tunes with an honesty and a maturity that transcends genre and gender. She doesn’t swap pronouns or couch her delivery with a wink; she simply plays it straight, singing her truth as a divorced single mother in her 40’s in all its beauty, pain, and power. 

“My goal wasn’t to force anything onto the music that wasn’t there already,” explains McNally. “There’s a feminine perspective hidden somewhere inside each of these songs. My job was to find a way to tap into that and draw it out.” The result is that rare covers record that furthers our understanding of the originals; an album of classics that challenges our perceptions and assumptions about just what made them classics in the first place. 

Pre-order Shannon McNally's THE WAYLON SESSIONS on Compass Records right here. Watch Shannon's video for "Black Rose" below. 

R.I.P. Billy Joe Shaver, 1939-2020

Sadly, Honky tonk hero Billy Joe Shaver passed away after suffering a massive stroke. His songs will live on just like he said.  

Shooter Jennings & Waymore's Outlaws hit The Phoenix January 22

Replacements salute Billy Joe Shaver in Austin

The Replacements knocked out a reasonable facsimile of Shaver's Live Forever at ACL Fest.    Photo by Craig Laskey

New album from Billy Joe Shaver "Long In The Tooth" due August 5th

The Ray Kennedy-produced Long In The Tooth boasts another duet with fellow outlaw Willie Nelson.

BILLY JOE SHAVER RELEASES LONG IN THE TOOTH – HIS FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM SINCE 2008's EVERYBODY’S BROTHER IN 2008 – OUT AUGUST 5

Billy Joe Shaver's finest songs prowl ("Hard To Be an Outlaw") and punch ("Music City USA") with welterweight fury. Evidence: The legendary outlaw's seamless Long in the Tooth. Shaver's first studio album in six years showcases a singular songwriter in peak form as he unearths his trademark truths around every corner ("Last Call for Alcohol," "The Git Go"). "This is the best album I've ever done," he says. "It's just dangerously good. I expect it to change things and turn things around the way Honky Tonk Heroes did."

Long in the Tooth, released on Lightning Rod Records through Thirty Tigers, charts his journey as an unrepentant outlaw. "Each song is different with different beats and different kinds of music," he says. "I even have one rap song. The titles are all so catchy like ‘It's Hard to Be an Outlaw' and ‘The Git Go.' Those are pretty hard to beat. Songwriting is gut wrenching, but if you dig down and write real honest you'll find something real great. I believe everybody should write. It's the cheapest psychiatrist there is and, God knows, I still need one."

Long in the Tooth spotlights all the highs, lows and in-betweens from Shaver's storied career, an evolving narrative never short on color. "The record's about me," says Shaver, who turns 75 years old on August 16th. "I've written a lot of great songs and I'm still writing great songs, but I felt neglected. I have been, actually. The reluctance to play old people's music is as bad as it was to play young people's music. I think it should level out where everyone can hear good art, but it seems like radio doesn't play older people's music. Man, it's like throwing out the Mona Lisa. I don't understand, but I'm just so proud of Long in the Tooth. This record will be a gigantic step."

Of course, Honky Tonk Heroes was the record that skyrocketed Shaver into public consciousness four decades ago. Waylon Jennings' landmark album delivered Shaver-written classics practically every measure: "Old Five and Dimers Like Me," "Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me," "Ride Me Down Easy," the title track and the Top 10 hit "You Asked Me To." In fact, 10 of the album's 11 songs were written or co-written by Shaver. It established him as a singular songwriter, a man whose earthy poetry resonates across the board. He's doubled down ever since.

No one sings Shaver's songs like the man himself, but plenty have tried: Everyone from Johnny Cash ("I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal") and Tom T. Hall ("Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me") to the Allman Brothers ("Sweet Mama") and Asleep at the Wheel ("Way Down Texas Way") has cut his tunes. "That's kind of like my trophies," Shaver admits. "Instead of getting CMA Awards, that means a whole lot more to me. When you write songs, and you write good songs, people will always remember you. Words will always outlive us. And if your name is attached to those words, you're gonna live forever."

Shaver spins yarns linking sacred ("Jesus Christ, What a Man") and secular ("That's What She Said Last Night") with a devil's grin. High watermarks have become instant standards ("Georgia on a Fast Train"). "These days it seems that every young songwriter in Texas wants to grow up to be Billy Joe Shaver," Kinky Friedman wrote recently. "Like the defenders of the Alamo, I predict that one day they'll be naming schools after Billy Joe, the man who wrote the immortal lines: ‘I got a good Christian raisin'/And an eighth grade education/Ain't no need in y'all treatin' me this way."

His most wistful ("Live Forever") and weary ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water") blur lines between life and art. In fact, Shaver, who lost parts of four fingers in an early sawmill accident, has lived through several tragedies that could serve as blueprints for teary country songs. Most notably, he endured the "cosmic misfortune" of his mother, first wife and only son (guitarist Eddy Shaver) dying within a year of one another. Life's simply treated him hard. Shaver hasn't aged gracefully, either. (Spin "Wacko from Waco" for his account of shooting a man in the face outside Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in spring 2007.)

The Corsicana, Texas native's Lone Star State roots run deep: His great-great-great grandfather, Revolutionary War veteran Evan Thomas Watson, was one of the founders of the Republic. Shaver was raised in hardscrabble circumstances by his grandmother, working on farms and selling newspapers on the street in his youth. He sang and made up songs "since I could talk," and was inspired in his childhood to keep at it after sneaking out of home one night to catch a country music show where he heard Hank Williams early in his career.

He drew a connection between country and blues from an uncle's record collection and the neighboring African-American farm workers' music. "Country music is really close to being the blues, and rock 'n' roll ain't nothing but the blues with a beat. That's about it," he says. Shaver was given a Gene Autry guitar by his grandmother at age 11 and began playing until his stepfather gave it away a few years later as payment for yard work. Following a brief stint in the Navy at age 16, a stab at professional rodeo, and the aforementioned incident losing parts of his fingers, Shaver took up playing guitar again and devoted himself to songwriting.

He hitchhiked to Nashville in 1965 and eventually earned a $50-a-week writer's deal with Bobby Bare's publishing company. Soon Jennings picked up those Shaver classics for Honk Tonk Heroes. As theWashington Post notes, "When the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus." He followed his debut on the Monument label with three albums on Capricorn Records and two on Columbia through 1987, seeing little commercial success with his recordings but winning rave reviews and the admiration of his musical peers.

In 1993, he broke through with new generations and broader audiences as the currently booming Americana and Texas roots music and singer-songwriter scenes were gathering steam with the acclaimed Tramp On Your Street, united with his late guitar-playing son Eddy as simply Shaver. He has since issued 11 more independent albums, was honored with the first Americana Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting in 2002, and inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

As his well deserved public recognition came in the 1990s, Shaver was cast by his friend and fan Robert Duvall in his acclaimed 1996 film The Apostle, and has since played parts in three other theatrical and TV movies. He was the subject of a 2004 documentary produced by Duvall, A Portrait of Billy Joe, and published his autobiography, Honky Tonk Hero, the following year. He also sings the themes to the Adult Swim television show Squidbillies, and "Live Forever" was included in the award-winning hit movie Crazy Heart as its end-credit song.

With these accomplishments behind him, Shaver has been thinking his creative well finally dried up. After all, he hasn't released an album with new songs in six years. Thankfully, he was wrong. Credit East Nashville's favorite son with lighting the fire. "I didn't think I had another hope in the world of doing another studio album," Shaver says. "Then Todd Snider encouraged me to come up to Nashville and I listened. I knew if I didn't come out with new songs, it wouldn't be right. I've promised hundreds of critics that I would. So, I just buckled down and got the new songs together. Sure enough, it turned out great."

Billy Joe Shaver live at Billy Bob's Texas

Happy Birthday Billy Joe Shaver!