See Shaver Dance

The last time Billy Joe Shaver rolled into town, he packed the porch at the Blue Moon Saloon & Guest House, even though the show was promoted almost entirely by word-of-mouth and canceled and reconfirmed little more than a day before the hefty Texan danced his first jig on Lafayette soil.

That's right, Billy Joe Shaver, the burly writer of true blue-collar, heart-felt and outlaw country, danced a shuffling, surf-pose-laden jive. Next Wednesday, Jan. 28, at El Sid O's, the legend will scuff the floor again as he takes to a Lafayette stage for the second time in only five months.

The set Shaver put on back in September was one destined to wind up in a fond "my favorite concerts" fan page of anyone in attendance. Despite having a new album - Freedom's Child - to peddle, Shaver drew from his immense catalog of songs about everything from suicide, love, rowdiness and just basic sensitivity.

All those in attendance got every penny of their money's worth as the band bucked expectations of legends and Shaver showed what a 64-year-old could do, playing near the two-hour mark. As the clock ticked by, the crowd devoured near-hits like Shaver's classic that almost put him on placemats at country music-themed restaurants, "I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train."

For those unfamiliar with Shaver's name, it could have been a show that issued a wake-up call to follow this overlooked gem. Mentioning his name might draw blank stares from even the truest country fan, but not from those who have ever read the credits to albums by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, David Allan Coe, Roy Acuff, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Cash and Elvis.

In fact, anyone who has ever enjoyed Jennings' work should personally thank Shaver as it was he who penned nearly all the tracks on Jennings' break-out album, Honky Tonk Heroes. Making the album nearly brought the pair to blows. Despite the success of his running buddies and fans (many of the aforementioned Hall of Fame members in country and/or rock 'n' roll), Shaver has never quite broken into the mega-stardom spectrum of tour bus fleets, solid gold houses and diamond-plated Leer jets.

It is probably for the best, as what sets him aside is that his real-life troubles come through his verses clearer than any cog in the Nashville music machine. Shaver doesn't seem to mind, as he once told National Public Radio that songwriting is "a hobby with me and it's also the cheapest psychiatrist there is."



nick.pittman@timesofacadiana.com