Billy Joe Shaver....

[vi5]

I made a post on Saturday about a song I heard on the local free form radio station. It was folksy/bluesy/country and had a guy finger picking with another guitar soloing over the top and lyrics about and eagle. The playlist hadn't been posted on the WFMU site yet so I couldn't figure out what song it was. Turns out it was a guy named Billy Joe Shaver. Not sure if that song (Eagle on the Ground) is indicative of his overall work. He seems big on country music pages and I'm the furthest thing from a country fan you're likely to find. But this song really hit me for some reason.

[Redstone]

1. Go out and buy all the Billy Joe Shaver CDs you can find;

you won't be disappointed. You don't have to be a "country" fan to like his stuff.

He's one of the very best, and has been for a very long time.

Redstone

[vi5]

2. Thanks for the advice.....

I listen to a ton of music so I'm a pretty jaded music guy. It takes a lot to hit me out of nowhere. But like I said this song was such a haunting tune and stuck with me so much it almost made me think it was a big hit song I had heard a ton of times being covered by someone else.

I am definitely going to check some of his stuff out.

[argyl]

3. Billy Joe Shaver's a Texas singer/songwriter along the lines of Willie

Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Roger Miller.He's lived a hard life and he expresses it beautifully in his craft.The above poster's right; if you enjoyed what you heard go out and buy some of his work. You won't be disappointed.

Be forewarned, however. This music is more appropriately referred to as Americana and is a far cry from the pop country with fiddles you hear cranked out of Nashville.You may find yourself drawn in and compelled to buy much more of this heartfelt music.

Guys like Billy Joe and Steve Earle are as similar to Toby Keith as Janis Joplin is to Brittney Spears.

[jandrok]

4. Very knowledgeable post....

No need to rehash what has already been well-said. I'd also highly recommend getting more familiar with Shaver's impressive body of work.

http://www.billyjoeshaver.com/