News Roundup: Billy Joe Shaver, Alejandro Escovedo, Bruce Springsteen, John Prine

In a case of a country song come to life, Billy Joe Shaver has been found not guilty of assault charges stemming from a 2007 incident in a bar in Lorena, Texas. “I knew in my heart we would win,” said the country legend, who admitted to shooting Billy Coker, 53, in the lip. Shaver was acting in self-defense (Coker had threatened him with a knife). “I wanted to scare him … wanted to beat him to the punch. I feared he was going to kill me,” Shaver said. Willie Nelson attended Shaver’s trial. No word on whether he coerced the judge into his tour bus. “I am very sorry about the incident,” said Shaver. “Hopefully things will work out where we become friends.”

Bruce Springsteen and Mott The Hoople’s Ian Hunter appear on Alejandro Escovedo’s latest studio album, Street Songs Of Love, co-written with Escovedo’s songwriting collaborator Chuck Prophet. The album, produced by Tony Visconti, is due June 29 on Fantasy Records. Hunter appears on “Down In The Bowery,” while the Boss duets on “Faith.” Escovedo, who joined Springsteen onstage in 2009, will hit the road with his band, the Sensitive Boys, this summer.

In an impressive display of democracy,new wave stalwarts Devo are asking their fans to pick the songs that will appear on their upcoming studio album. “In an effort to comply with the growing need for appealing sonic products in the mass market, we have officially launched the Devo Song Study to collect data regarding which of our current roster of recorded material is most appealing to you, the general public,” the band writes in a statement. Click here to cast your votes. When a good song comes along…you must pick it!

John Prine’s long-deserved tribute album, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, will hit shelves June 22nd via Oh Boy Records. Among the acts banding together to salute the songwriter are Conor Oberst, Deer Tick, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, My Morning Jacket, and The Avett Brothers. Twentyfourbit has compiled a few links to some other John Prine covers, including Bright Eyes’ take on Prine’s “Crazy As A Loon” from 2005’s Fair And Square, here.

Full track list for Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows below:

01 Justin Vernon – “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)”

02 Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – “Wedding Day in Funeralville”

03 My Morning Jacket – “All the Best”

04 Josh Ritter – “Mexican Home”

05 Lambchop – “Six O’Clock News”

06 Justin Townes Earle – “Far From Me”

07 The Avett Brothers – “Spanish Pipedream”

08 Old Crow Medicine Show – “Angel From Montgomery”

09 Sara Watkins – “The Late John Garfield Blues”

10 Drive-By Truckers: “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”

11 Deer Tick: “Unwed Fathers” [ft. Liz Isenberg]

12 Those Darlins: “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian”