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Eddy Shaver, guitar prodigy son of Billy Joe Shaver, dies
By Chris Riemenschneider Eddy Shaver, who wowed audiences as the guitar-playing son and partner of country icon Billy Joe Shaver, died in Waco early Sunday at the age of 38. The cause of death was not available. Friends said Shaver struggled with drug addiction in recent years but seemed to be on a personal upswing. In October, he married Irene Triola, an employee at Austin's Saxon Pub, where the Shavers often performed. And just last Friday, he signed a record deal with the Antone's label to release his second solo album. "What a waste of amazing talent," said Poodie Locke, longtime manager for Willie Nelson and owner of the Hilltop Bar & Grill in Spicewood, where the Shavers were scheduled to perform New Year's Eve. True to his resilient spirit, Billy Joe Shaver still climbed on stage for Sunday's gig, as Nelson led a tribute to Eddy. "(Billy Joe) wanted to be with his friends and with Willie -- who also lost a son tragically -- and was there to help him get through it," Locke said. Waco police said Eddy's wife found him late Saturday, and an emergency call was made from a Waco hotel. Shaver was taken to Hillcrest Baptist Hospital at about 10 p.m. and declared dead at 2:58 a.m. Justice of the Peace Billy Martin declined to comment on the cause of death. None of the Shaver family was available for comment. No autopsy was planned, police said. Eddy, born John Edwin Shaver on June 20, 1962, was a guitar prodigy before he became a teen. Because his father's guitar abilities were limited by a missing finger, Eddy learned much of his technique from Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, a close friend of Billy Joe's. On Billyjoeshaver.com, the elder Shaver recalls asking the principal at Eddy's school if he could take his son on the road in his early teens. "The principal said I could have him if I didn't bring him back," Billy Joe said with a laugh. Eddy often performed in a black trenchcoat and took on a rough-hewn persona like his father. His gritty, loud but always supportive playing style also could be heard on albums by Nelson, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Dwight Yoakam, who recruited Eddy into his band during the mid-'80s. "My band and the crew members that worked with us when Eddy was on the tour will always be blessed by the memory of his smile and humor," Yoakam said in a statement. As the father-son duo Shaver, Billy Joe and Eddy co-produced and co-wrote such acclaimed albums as 1987's "Salt of the Earth," 1993's "Tramp on Your Street" and 1998's "Victory." They recently completed an album for New West Records, due out in March. The "Victory" album was a tribute to Billy Joe's mother, Victory, and Eddy's mother, Brenda, whom Billy Joe had married three times. The two Shaver women died of cancer a month apart in the summer of 1999. "Billy Joe has already gone through a lot, so you can imagine how much this hurts," said Ben Ewing, the Shavers' manager. On Tuesday, the Austin music scene reflected on the death of another guitar hero. Joe Ables, manager of the Saxon Pub, said the Shavers played two sold-out, half-acoustic/half-electric shows in November that demonstrated Eddy's tremendous versatility. "It really is a shock to everyone and just another big blow to Texas music," Ables said. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waco. Visitation hours are today from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The funeral home is at 7537 S. Interstate 35 in Waco.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. You may contact Chris Riemenschneider at 445-3607 or criemenschneider@statesman.com.
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