Texas Platters

Dale Watson

From the Cradle to the Grave (Hyena)

Austin's honky-tonk troubadour has always been enamored with the greats – Johnny, Elvis, George, Hank – but who knew that 10 days in a Tennessee cabin once belonging to the Man in Black would peak Dale Watson's self-coined Ameripolitan. Watson's 12th proper LP, From the Cradle to the Grave, pays homage to Cash with train beats and comfort tunes, a stew of classic Bakersfield country and vintage Western swing. Opening with chugging shuffle "Justice for All," Cradle matches Watson's baritone with mariachi horns. Throw in a bossa nova ("It's Not Over Now"), pure-Dale heartbreaker "Time Without You," and a good-time ride with a jar of moonshine ("Hollywood Hillbilly"), and you're verging on lifetime achievement. He nearly did it on 2004's Dreamland, but Cradle to Grave is Watson in all his tight-jeaned, leather-chapped, tattooed glory.