Billy Joe Shaver

Stage on Sixth, March 14

You walk in, and honky-tonk survivor Billy Joe Shaver launches a monologue about Dale Watson writing “Where Do You Want It?,” about the former’s infamous shooting incident. “It wasn’t worth a damn,” Shaver drawls. “I mean, it was a good song, but they used it as evidence against me in the trial! So, this’un’s called ‘Wacko From Waco.'” Shaver’s in top form, sampling a good 45 minutes of his hard country classics: “I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,” “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal,” “Honky Tonk Heroes,” the list is endless. As he fronts a band that could be the Supersuckers with great humor and a weathered delivery, you grasp how many late 20th century treasures Shaver, 73, has penned. An ambassador to old-school music values, to unvarnished honky-tonk, to progressive country as a Harlan-Howard-meets-Bob-Dylan figure, he also preserves the vintage era of Hank Williams and Ray Price. Billy Joe Shaver remains the diamond he promised he’d been in that song about a chunk of coal.

This article appears in March 22 • 2013.

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Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.