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. A teller of timeless stories of the hard times and good luck of folks riding along life's highways and byways, Slaid began his career as a "busker," singing and playing guitar on the streets of Co. 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, and went on to record five stellar albums, including the award-winning Broke Down (Rounder). Tonight, expect plenty of Slaid classics as well as brand-new tunes from his upcoming sixth album, Wishbones. Opening for Slaid is his good friend Susan Gibson, the dynamic young writer of the Dixie Chicks' breakthrough hit, "Wide Open Spaces," which recently polled at number twenty-two on Country Music Television's all-time top 100 songs.