Justin McBride is a swaggering cowboy with a streak of sensitivity, putting him in a long tradition of honky-tonk troubadours. That’s why Billy Bob’s Texas was the perfect location for his 2010 live album; the Fort Worth nightclub is the crown jewel of the Texas country circuit, and it's played host to everyone from George Jones to Jerry Lee Lewis to Waylon Jennings (to whom McBride pays tribute with “Waymore’s Blues” and “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”). McBride’s deepened voice sounds less strained here than it did on his studio debut, and there's a wonderful casualness to “Rodeo Man,” “Faster Horses,” and “Don’t Call Him a Cowboy,” all of which are played as hard-fought mementos won during a lifetime on the rodeo circuit. With his version of Chris LeDoux’s “Cadillac Cowboy,” McBride acknowledges the godfather of rodeo tales in country music, who'd only passed on a few years before this concert was recorded. Though LeDoux’s shadow looms large over anyone who sings of the rodeo life, this live album shows McBride slowly growing into his role as a wizened statesman of authentic cowboy music.