Dale Watson - Best Of The Hightone Years (2002/2020)

Dale Watson came of age a few decades too late. He looks and sings like a young Merle Haggard, and even his name seems like that of an artist from a vintage honky-tonk jukebox. On this anthology of mid-'90s recordings, Watson sounds like he was born to a tradition rather than trying to revive anything. He surveys the field of truckin', cheatin', and drinkin' songs, while paying tribute to his favorite Austin bar ("Honkiest Tonkiest Beer Joint") and Texas pit stop ("Truckstop in La Grange"). The catchiest song, "Caught," borrows a couplet from noted roadhouse tunesmith Sir Walter Scott, while Watson's stone-country baritone redeems even lesser material. Just listen to "You Lie," where he somehow stretches and twists the title's second word into 10 syllables. --Don McLeese