Austin-based Slaid Cleaves combines rootsy rowdiness with gothic twang, presenting a brilliant array of country-folk originals. Inspired by his musical heroes, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, the Everly Brothers, and Woody Guthrie, Slaid began his career as a "busker," singing and playing guitar on the streets of Cork, Ireland in the mid-1980s. Returning to his home in southern Maine, he toured with the roots-rocking Moxie Men before relocating to Texas. In 1992 he won the prestigious New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival, joining the company of Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle, and Lyle Lovett. Last year he released his fifth album, Broke Down (Rounder), a collection of timeless stories of the hard times and good luck of folks riding along life's highways and byways. Recent Austin Music Awards winner, Caroline Herring, opens.