Americana Music Reviews

 

 Billy Joe Shaver - Honky Tonk Hero

Billy Joe and Eddy Shaver at the Lone Star Cafe & Club

by Michael Johnson

Any time you get a chance to see a music legend in an intimate setting, you have to do it, although it is hard to think of the Lone Star Cafe & Club as "intimate". It is a pure hard-assed "honkytonk", with all the features you would expect, including a shuffleboard table. It also features an inadequate sound system, amateurish stage setup, and bad stage lighting, but the beer's icy cold and the entertainment is always "entertaining".

On this night, Baron Smith and The Branders opened the show. Baron has a strong voice and does mostly Waylon Jennings covers, and does them pretty well. However, the Branders must equate "loud" with "good" because the sound level was deafening. There was no way to talk with the person next to you even by shouting in their ear. It was a relief when their set was over.

Folks were there to see Shaver. Eddy drifted in early, to cheers and applause, and sat at the bar. Billy Joe came in a little later and the crowd whooped and hollered.

The whooping and hollering continued through three sets as the Shavers put on one helluva show! The drummer was late and there were some of Lone Star's trademark sound problems but Billy kicked it off with an opening number with Eddy on acoustic guitar, and then left Eddy to do a couple of his own songs while he went to park his truck.

Eddy Shaver is no doubt one of the best guitar players on the planet. He's one of those guys who can make a Fender do whatever he wants it to do. It is always a pleasure to watch a performer who makes it look easy, and Eddy does that. The pairing of Eddy's scorching guitar work with Billy Joe's good-ol'-boy persona is a strange mix, but it works.

The drummer finally arrives and Billy works through all of the songs the crowd had come to hear. To say that Billy is "relaxed" on stage would be a gross understatement. He does his songs, talking a little in between, and that's when things can get interesting. You never know what this guy will say, and it actually adds to the show. Once, between numbers, Billy, swigging on a bottle of Evian, is looking at the big screen TV, oddly left on during the show, watching a report on Lance Armstrong's Tour de France progress. Billy watches for what seemed a long time and says, "Look at that little sumbitch. He's whuppin' their asses again. He whupped cancer's ass and John Wayne couldn't even do that."

Quirky hand gestures and movements, strange facial expressions all make Billy Joe's performance a real pleasure to watch, but at the same time a little unnerving. Sometimes he's on a tear like a holy-roller preacher, and mixes a lot of religious references into his comments. It all works together to give his performance a real edge and keeps some of the decades old material he performs fresh.

Billy Joe get's into the music. During "People and Their Problems", he grabs his head with both hands and screams, "People and their problems are drivin' me fucking crazy!" He'll hit you with a line like that and then a minute later start preaching about Jesus' salvation and kneel in prayer at the end of "I'm Gonna Live Forever." Fascinating. You never know what this guy is going to do, and I love that! The only real negatives for the night were the aforementioned sound problems and the $20 for a CD. Billy Joe at one time said, "I've become a whore." Well at least he ain't a $2 one!

Contact Michael Johnson at rockzilla-at-rockzilla.net

 
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