BILLY JOE SHAVER
8 p.m., Revolution. $12 adv., $15 d.o.s.

He’s a hero to your heroes — Willie Nelson called him maybe the best songwriter alive today and Bob Dylan name-checked him on his last album — and one of the last living connections to the outlaw country movement. More bona fides: He wrote nearly every one of the songs on Waylon Jennings’ seminal “Honky Tonk Heroes,” and just about every song on his debut, “Old Five and Dimers Like Me” (“I’ve Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,” anyone?) is a classic. Which is not to say that Shaver’s genius ended in the ’70s. He’s been remarkably prolific of late, releasing a new album at least every two years since 1993. He’s had plenty of material to draw from. Even beyond his young life, where he severed two fingers in a sawmill accident, spent time homeless, served in the Navy and worked as a bronco buster, the man has a surfeit of experience to mine. He lost his wife and his mother within a month of each other in 1999; saw his only son die of an overdose in 2000 and suffered, himself, a heart attack onstage a year later. But today, at 70, he’s alive and well, still on the road, still preaching sin and redemption. You’d be dumb to miss this one.

Invest in the future of great journalism in Arkansas

Join the ranks of the 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts who know that the Arkansas Times is the go-to source for tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 50 years, our progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock has been on the front lines of the fight for truth, and with your support, we can do even more. By subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers and expand our coverage. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make a difference with your subscription or donation to the Arkansas Times today.

Previous article Friday To-Do: Dane Cook Next article Tony Alamo gets 175 years