Billy Joe Shaver › Similar Artists

Ray Wylie Hubbard - 100% match to Billy Joe Shaver

13 November 1946, Soper, Oklahoma, USA. Much of Hubbard’s initial fame rested on his songwriting. Jerry Jeff Walker recorded his composition ‘Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother’, turning it into a left-field country standard. Hubbard formed the Cowboy Twinkies who released a self-titled debut for Warner Brother Records in 1975, but the album’s failure le Read more

Jerry Jeff Walker - 84% match to Billy Joe Shaver

Ronald Clyde Crosby, 16 March 1942, Oneonta, New York, USA. Although Walker initially pursued a career as a folk singer in New York’s Greenwich Village, he first forged his reputation as a member of Circus Maximus. He left this promising group following their debut album, when a jazz-based initiative proved incompatible with his own ambitions. Having moved to Key West i Read more

Johnny Paycheck - 83% match to Billy Joe Shaver

Donald Eugene Lytle, 31 May 1938, Greenfield, Ohio, USA, d. 18 February 2003, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. His date of birth is often disputed, and varies between 1938 and 1941. The title of Paycheck’s 1977 country hit, ‘I’m The Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)’, is apt as he was in trouble throughout his life; the wild eyes on his album sleeves give the pictur Read more

Guy Clark - 81% match to Billy Joe Shaver

6 November 1941, Rockport, Texas, USA. Clark has achieved considerably more fame as a songwriter than as a performer, although he is revered by his nucleus of fans internationally. Brought up in the hamlet of Monahans, Texas, Clark worked in television during the 60s, and later as a photographer - his work appeared on albums released by the Texan-based International Artists Read more

Joe Ely - 77% match to Billy Joe Shaver

9 February 1947, Amarillo, Texas, USA. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Ely is one of the most completely realized artists in contemporary country music, especially in the live situation where he excels. His work for MCA Records in the late 70s is latterly regarded as the link between country rock and so-called new country.Ely moved with his parents in Read more

Robert Earl Keen - 74% match to Billy Joe Shaver

11 January 1956, Houston, Texas, USA. In the mid-70s, Keen befriended Lyle Lovett at Texas A&M University, an establishment that combined academic and military activities. They often sang and played guitar together and they wrote ‘This Old Porch’, which appeared on Lovett’s first album. Keen also formed a bluegrass band, the Front Porch Boys. In 1981, he m Read more

Bruce Robison - 73% match to Billy Joe Shaver

Dale Watson - 69% match to Billy Joe Shaver

7 October 1962, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. An old-fashioned honky tonk performer of the traditional variety, Dale Watson made a major impact in 1995 with the release of his Cheatin’ Heart Attack debut set for HighTone Records. Growing up in Alabama, he had been introduced to country music by his marine father who ran a small band. His father even released a single, ‘ Read more

Rodney Crowell - 68% match to Billy Joe Shaver

7 August 1950, Houston, Texas, USA. Combining careers as a country songwriter, producer and artist, Crowell rose to fame in the 80s as an influential figure in Nashville’s new breed of country traditionalists, along with Emmylou Harris, in whose Hot Band he worked for three years, Rosanne Cash, and fellow songwriters such as Guy Clark. His songs have been covered by Bob Read more

Jimmie Dale Gilmore - 61% match to Billy Joe Shaver

6 May 1945, Amarillo, Texas, USA. Gilmore is one of the many singer-songwriters to emerge from Lubbock; he says, ‘People used to ask us why there is so much music in Lubbock and we’d say that maybe it was the UFOs that came through in the early 50s. There was a famous sighting that was known as the Lubbock Lights.’ Apart from such extra-terrestrial help, Gilmo Read more

David Allan Coe - 60% match to Billy Joe Shaver

6 September 1939, Akron, Ohio, USA. From the age of nine, Coe was in and out of reform schools, correction centres and prisons. According to his publicity handout, he spent time on Death Row after killing a fellow inmate who demanded oral sex. When Rolling Stone magazine questioned this, Coe responded with a song, ‘I’d Like To Kick The Shit Out Of You’. Whatev Read more

Charlie Robison - 59% match to Billy Joe Shaver

1 September 1964, Bandera, Texas, USA. Singer-songwriter Robison grew up on his family’s ranch in the tiny Texan town of Bandera. He began playing in bands as a teenager, initially starting out on the drums before graduating to guitar. After studying at Southwest Texas University, Robison relocated to Austin where he played with a number of local bar bands, including th Read more

Chris Knight - 59% match to Billy Joe Shaver

24 June 1960, Slaughters, Kentucky, USA. Country singer-songwriter Knight’s rural upbringing in the backwoods of Kentucky is reflected in his grittily honest tales of small town working men and women far from the bright lights of Nashville. Knight began writing songs as a teenager, inspired by the maverick creative talents of Steve Earle and John Prine, but any thoughts Read more

Waylon Jennings - 59% match to Billy Joe Shaver

Wayland Arnold Jennings, 15 June 1937, Littlefield, Texas, USA, d. 13 February 2002, Arizona, USA. Jennings’ mother wanted to name him Tommy but his father, William Alvin, insisted that the family tradition of ‘W.A.’ should be maintained. His father played guitar in Texas dancehalls and Jennings’ childhood hero was Ernest Tubb, with whom he later recorded Read more

Hayes Carll - 54% match to Billy Joe Shaver

Joshua Hayes Carll, 1978, Houston, Texas, USA. During his teens Carll heard Bob Dylan, Lyle Lovettand others, and chose music as a career. He attended Hendrix College, Arkansas, studying history and theatre, and from there tried various labouring jobs, visited Croatia for six months, then moved to Austin, Texas. Playing guitar, Carll wrote songs that reflected his early back Read more