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Shaver
Highway of Life (Justice) (star) (star) (star)
The suddenly prolific road warrior Billy Joe Shaver turns down the volume in this largely unplugged collection of engaging new material, which explores the many twists and turns found on the pothole-filled highway that begins in the title song (“On a long and winding road just this side of nowhere . . .”) and extends through the album. Shaver’s tales always have sounded autobiographical in one way or another–or, at least, deeply lived–but the 11 songs here seem more reflective than usual in their stripped-down simplicity and nostalgia for spent youth (“Goodbye Yesterday,” “Yesterday Tomorrow Was Today”). Son Eddy Shaver again provides superb support on guitar and dobro.