Billy, David Allan Coe, Rick Schroeder at recording of CMT Outlaws, to air in November

 

Billy Sings National Anthem at NASCAR Watkins Glen

August 14, 2005

    

 

 

 

   Billy Joe  recorded on Monday August 8

 

 

Bethany Braley wrote an outstanding feature about Billy Joe Shaver in the current issue of American Cowboy magazine. Click here for more information on where to pick up a copy http://www.americancowboy.com/

Billy Joe for Poet Laureate (Houston Press)

Billy will appear on the James Robison TV program and on 60 Minutes in December

Billy Joe Shaver inducted to NSAI Hall of Fame, November 7, 2004.  'bout damn time

Portrait of Billy Joe -- a film by Luciana Pedraza       On Sale on DVD Now

Billy Joe is featured in the December 2003 Texas Monthly  

 (November 10, 2003) - Legendary singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver has one foot in the honky-tonk and the other in Hollywood. Shaver has been a constant in roots music for decades, and now he has parlayed his musical success into a budding acting career.

Shaver, who made his acting debut in Robert Duvall’s 1997 The Apostle, will appear in The Wendell Baker Story, which recently finished filming in Austin, TX. Shaver will portray the eccentric Reverend Shackelton and
will share the screen with Owen Wilson, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Dean Stanton, Eva Mendes, Eddie Griffin, Will Ferrell, and Luke Wilson. The screenplay is the first written by Luke Wilson, who co-directed with his
brother Andrew. The Wendell Baker Story is expected to hit theaters in fall 2004.


Shaver's character will perform "Live Forever," in the movie. The song, written by Shaver, is a spiritual song about the afterlife and offers advice for those left behind.


“I felt right at home on the set,” said Shaver. “The cast and crew were the nicest, most professional people I’ve worked with since Robert Duvall.”


The Wendell Baker Story is not Shaver’s only entrée into the film industry this year. Robert Duvall’s longtime companion, Luciana Pedraza, has just completed a documentary about Shaver’s life. Titled Portrait of
Billy Joe, the film recounts the story of Shaver’s life, including an interview with 103-year-old Mabel Legg, who, as Shaver’s boyhood English teacher, encouraged him to explore creative writing.


“In homeroom she said, ‘Hey, everybody’s got to write poems and stuff’,” said Shaver. “And so I scribbled out a few, because I’d been writing all my life. Since I was about five, I guess. And she just flipped out over a
couple of them and said, ‘You know, you’ve just got to do this. Remember, whatever you do in life, you can always fall back on this’.”


Portrait of Billy Joe is to be shown at the major film festivals in spring 2004.


In addition to the documentary and The Wendell Baker Story, Shaver made a cameo appearance as an airplane salesman this fall in Secondhand Lions, starring Duvall, Haley Joel Osment, and Michael Caine. He is also the
subject of a feature story in the December issue of Texas Monthly.

Shaver is a songwriters' songwriter. He wrote 90 percent of Waylon Jennings' 1973 landmark Honky Tonk Heroes album and churned out a string of classic songs that included “Ride Me Down Easy” and “Restless Wind” (Bobby Bare), “Old Five & Dimers Like Me” (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson), “(Just Because) You Ask Me To” (Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings), “I Couldn't Be Me Without You” (Johnny Rodriguez), “Good Christian Soldier” (Kris Kristofferson), and countless others.


Throughout his career, Shaver has released 13 albums. His latest, Freedom’s Child (Compadre Records), garnered some of his highest critical praise to date. Freedom’s Child is his first solo album in 15 years and
his first recording since the death of his son Eddy in 2000.

September News

Billy has a cameo in the movie "Secondhand Lions" featuring Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.

Billy is currently filming "Wendell Baker Story" and plays the part of Rev Shackelton.  This film features
Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Eva Mendes, and Kris Kristofferson.

Watch for a new greatest hits live album in late October.  This album will only be available for
purchase on-line and at Billy's concerts.

Billy will begin recording his new studio album soon. Watch for a Feb/March 2004 release.

Texas Monthly will feature Billy in their December edition.

Includes a live version of "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train"

Features "That's What She Said Last Night"

 WALL STREET JOURNAL, Sept. 17, 2002                                                           Photo by Abigail Seymour