Cary Baker's conqueroo - Billy Joe Shaver Announcements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2007

BILLY JOE SHAVER TO RELEASE NEW SPIRITUAL ALBUM, ‘EVERYBODY’S BROTHER,’ ON SEPTEMBER 25

Produced by John Carter Cash, album features guest appearances by Kris Kristofferson, John Anderson, Tanya Tucker, Marty Stuart, Bill Miller and others

HOUSTON, Texas — Billy Joe Shaver’s been thinking about making a spiritual album for a long time, but like everything in his life, he approaches spirituality on his own terms. “Somebody called this album ‘honky tonk Gospel,’” Shaver says chuckling. “I kinda like that.” Shaver is describing Everybody’s Brother, his September 25, 2007 release on Compadre Records, a division of Mathew Knowles’ Music World Entertainment.

Producer John Carter Cash, son of Shaver’s pal Johnny Cash, added his own studio polish to the project, while capturing all the rowdy energy of Shaver’s live performances. Cash commented: ““Billy Joe Shaver is the last of his breed. Since I was a young child, I have known him, and now having the chance to work with him in the studio as a producer, I have learned his heart. Billy Joe is the kind of man who will go the extra mile for a friend... Give his coat when asked for his shirt. I love Billy Joe, and will always treasure the memories of working with him.”

The songs on Everybody’s Brother deal with love, loss, mortality and the hereafter, all viewed from Shaver’s unique perspective. “Get Thee Behind Me Satan” opens the album with a bang. John Anderson trades off on lead vocals and adds his harmonies to the chorus on the bluesy rocker. Anderson recently joined Shaver at a Civil War-era church in Shelbyville, TN to shoot a video for the track.

Other guests on the album include Marty Stuart, Tanya Tucker, Kris Kristofferson, and Randy Scruggs. The album’s final track is a late 1970s duet with Johnny Cash on “You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ.” It was produced by Cowboy Jack Clement and features a 15-year-old Eddy Shaver playing smoking guitar.

Native American singer/songwriter Bill Miller adds pow-wow drums, Native American cedar flute and Native vocals to the title track for a soundscape that pays tribute to America’s oldest music. “It was my idea to mix cowboy and Indian music,” Shaver says. “I’m Blackfoot on my father’s side, and Bill’s a full-blood Mohican. He did a wonderful job.”

Shaver is truly one of the most respected living figures in American music today. Johnny Cash called him “my favorite songwriter.” He has written for Cash as well as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, The Allman Brothers and Bobby Bare. The last few years have been rough on Shaver. His mother, wife and son Eddy all died within a year’s time. Then he suffered a massive heart attack, but he recovered and was soon back on the road, his characteristic optimism intact. “I’ve always been lucky and I’m lucky to still be here. God gave me this gift [of songwriting] and I’ll keep polishing it as long as I can,” he explains.
Shaver will tour all over the country to support Everybody’s Brother. Some of his upcoming tour appearances include the Austin City Limits Festival, Farm Aid, New York City’s Joe’s Pub, and the Minnesota State Fair.

A special version of the album will be distributed through Universal/EMI Christian in early October.

TRACK LIST
1. Get Thee Behind Me Satan (with John Anderson)
2. Rolling Stone
3. When I Get My Wings
4. If You Don't Love Jesus
5. Most Precious
6. Winning Again (with Marty Stuart)
7. No Earthly Good (with Kris Kristofferson)
8. To Be Loved By A Woman
9. The Tough Get Going
10. The Greatest Man Alive
11. Played The Game Too Long (with Tanya Tucker)
12.. You'll Always Be My Best Friend
13. Jesus Is The Only One That Loves Us (with John Anderson)
14. Everybody's Brother (with Bill Miller)
15. You Just Can't Beat Jesus Christ (with Johnny Cash)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2005

BILLY JOE SHAVER’S BANNER YEAR CULMINATES WITH NEW STUDIO ALBUM, THE REAL DEAL, DUE SEPT. 20 ON COMPADRE RECORDS

Self-produced album features duets with Big & Rich, Nanci Griffith, Flaco Jimenez, Kimmie Rhodes and Kevin Fowler

Follows on heels of “60 Minutes,” NPR “Fresh Air” and CMT “Outlaws”

HOUSTON, Texas – Five years ago, Billy Joe Shaver’s life was marked by tragedy, death and his own failing health. As he prepares to unleash his first new studio album in three years, The Real Deal (Compadre Records) on September 20, his life has turned around. He’s recently been featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes II” with Dan Rather and NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross. He is scheduled to appear as a featured performer on an upcoming “CMT Outlaws” special and will perform the national anthem at the August 15 “Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen” Nextel Cup NASCAR race in Watkins Glen, New York. Indeed it seems like he’s experienced everything a musician can—except that he has never self-produced an album.

So Shaver hunkered down in a Pedernales, Texas studio to record 14 out of 16 new tracks for the forthcoming album. He explains, “It was great to be able to sing the way I want to sing. I could set up the arrangements how I wanted rather than having to fit someone else’s.”

He was also joined by old and new friends including the country superstar duo Big & Rich, who co-produced their duet with Shaver on his inspirational masterpiece “Live Forever.” According to Big Kenny from the duo, “Shaver is a classic poet and a songsmith . . . the kind of person you can listen to for hours, with a spirit and soul that grabs your attention.” The duet marks the first time the double platinum duo has recorded an outside song.

Others who joined Shaver included Nancy Griffith (who sang on the song “Valentine”), Kimmie Rhodes (“West Texas Waltz”), Flaco Jimenez (“Feliz Navidad”) and Kevin Fowler (“Slim Chance and the Can’t Hardly Playboys”). The album also contains Shaver’s fervent reminder about the power of persistence, “Try and Try Again.”

The Real Deal follows the well-received Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver – Live (Compadre), which featured such friends as Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, Todd Snider, Cory Morrow, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, among others.

Shaver is truly one of the most respected living figures in American music today. Johnny Cash called him “my favorite songwriter.” (He has written for Cash as well as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, The Allman Brothers and Bobby Bare.) The Washington Post noted that “when the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus.”

Shaver has been tapped to join Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, Jerry Lee Lewis, Shelby Lynne and more for CMT's highly anticipated “CMT Outlaws” concert special, reaching 100 million homes. He will be a featured writer at the 2005 Texas Book Festival in Austin this October promoting his autobiography Honky Tonk Hero (University of Texas Press). He is also a “spiritual advisor” to the Texas gubernatorial campaign of longtime friend Kinky Friedman. Last year he was named Texas State Musician by the Texas Commission on the Arts, and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Shaver will tour the U.S. (as well as every town in Texas) from the summer months well into the fall.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2005

BILLY JOE SHAVER’S 65th YEAR IS BANNER YEAR FOLLOWING TIME OF TRAGEDY

READIES ‘A TRIBUTE TO BILLY JOE SHAVER – LIVE’ CD WITH GUESTS ROBERT EARL KEEN, JOE ELY, GUY CLARK, JIMMIE DALE GILMORE, BRUCE ROBISON, KELLY WILLIS, TODD SNIDER, CORY MORROW, JACK INGRAM AND
MORE TO HIT STREETS MAY 17

Shaver to be seen on “60 Minutes II,” just published his autobiography, has a documentary DVD, is advising candidate Kinky Friedman.

WACO, Texas -- What a difference a year makes! When we announced Billy Joe Shaver’s most recent studio album, Billy and the Kid (August 2004), it was couched in the context of tragedy. The legendary Texas singer/songwriter had lost his mother, wife and son within a single year.

Shaver still feels the hurt, but his life has turned around. On May 17, Compadre Records will release A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver – Live, a CD that documents a 65th birthday tribute held in Austin last August. Guest stars on the album, who paid tribute to Shaver at Austin’s Paramount Theatre, include (in alphabetical order) Guy Clark, Diamondback Texas, Joe Ely, The Geezinslaws, Colin Gilmore, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rodney Hayden, Jack Ingram, Robert Earl Keen, Cory Morrow, Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, Todd Snider and Dale Watson.

The artists each sing one Shaver or Shaver-inspired song and offer their spoken testimonials on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Shaver himself performs four songs (“You Wouldn’t Know Love,” “Try and Try Again,” “Tramp on Your Street,” and, accompanied by Diamondback Texas, “Georgia on a Fast Train”).

The new album, however, is just one of the good things that has made Shaver’s life worth living of late. Others:

* Shaver was taped by Dan Rather for a forthcoming “60 Minutes II” segment to air in March or April, exact date TBA.
* His autobiography, Honky Tonk Hero, will be published by the University of Texas Press with a March 1 street date.
* “The Portrait of Billy Joe,” a documentary film DVD by Luciana Pedraza (wife of actor Robert Duvall) was released last year by Butchers Run Films.
* Shaver appears as Rev. Shackleton in “The Wendell Baker Story,” a film directed by Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson and Will Farrell, shot in 2003 in Austin. Shaver’s song "Live Forever" is featured in the movie.
* Shaver was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in a November ceremony.
* He has signed on as “spiritual advisor” to the Texas gubernatorial campaign of longtime friend Kinky Friedman.
* And at age 65, a year that many turn their thoughts to retirement, Shaver is touring year-
round.

A portion of the proceeds from A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver – Live will be donated to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

According to Shaver, “I am so blessed. God is always on time.”