Pat Green - Live At Billy Bob's Texas (1999)

While the first batch of Live at Billy Bob's Texas releases focused primarily on established artists, the series' greatest potential is as a launching pad for up-and-coming talent; an excellent case in point is singer/songwriter Pat Green, a homegrown talent clearly deserving of an audience outside of the Lone Star State. Rejecting the spit-and-polish of his Nashville contemporaries, Green is a gritty, rootsy performer with a knack for vividly compelling narratives; the opener, a cover of Joe Ely's "Me and Billy the Kid," is indicative of the kind of edgy, evocative style his own songs are shooting for.