It’s not new. But in Texas, it’s never gone away.
Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver came out November 11, 2022, on New West Records & Pedernales Records. Co-produced by Charlie Sexton and Freddy Fletcher, it was built as a straight-up thank you to the Corsicana kid who wrote Honky Tonk Heroes.
So why is it all over your feed again this week?
Because the three Texans at its center are all having a moment:
Miranda Lambert just debuted Crisco at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums — her 11th straight Top 10 — and is being inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Her cut on Live Forever is “I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)” — a song she’s cited as a masterclass in tough-and-tender writing.
George Strait is headlining a one-night-only, in-the-round show at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock on April 25 with Lambert. His contribution is “Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me” — a song he first recorded in the ‘70s because Shaver taught him how a Texas road song should feel.
Willie Nelson (with Lucinda Williams) opens the tribute with “Live Forever,” plus his own “Georgia On A Fast Train.” It’s fitting — Willie called Billy Joe “definitely the best writer in Texas.” Johnny Cash called him his favorite songwriter, period.
The rest of the map: Rodney Crowell, Ryan Bingham & Nikki Lane, Margo Price, Steve Earle, Nathaniel Rateliff — all disciples of the Shaver songbook.