Jesse Dayton, Johnny Bush

Jesse Dayton is no stranger to country music royalty, having inherited the Outlaw mantle directly from the legends themselves. "I've gotten to play with Johnny Bush, Willie Nelson, Ray Price [and] I did a TV thing with Cash," attests the hard-drivin' Beaumont-bred honky-tonker. "But Waylon was like my runnin' buddy. He wasn't like an old grandfather guy; Waylon would steal your girlfriend, man, up to the end of it. He's a player!" Most recently, Dayton has teamed with Austin's dulcetly twanged Brennen Leigh for the superb duets album Holdin' Our Own, which sets country gold hits alongside originals worthy of canonization themselves. Saturday, the Road King once more takes the stage with Johnny Bush, the "Whiskey River" songwriter currently enjoying a career resurgence after recovering from the rare vocal disorder spasmodic dysphonia. This year, Bush released his autobiography, Whiskey River, and returned to his hometown roots on Kashmere Gardens Mud: A Tribute to Houston's Country Soul. Featuring guest appearances from Nelson, Dale Watson, the Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra and a duet with his brother, Rev. Gene Shinn, Kashmere finds Bush at his best and living up to his Texas Country Music Hall of Fame pedigree.