WHISKEY OR GOD Is a collection of 13 classic, semi-autobiographical country-rock tunes by artist-performer Dale Watson. This album captures Watson’s rich rough-as-diamonds, cry-in-your-beer baritone. Indeed, Watson has been called the new “savior of traditional country music” by none other than Hank Williams III. The current keeper of the Williams musical legacy was himself described as that savior by a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, but he corrected the writer, saying he was uncomfortable with the description and “that would have to be somebody like Dale Watson.” The country music veteran is well-known in Europe, where he has won awards in Holland and Spain and British Country Music Awards’ Best International Artist on an Independent Label. Watson replies to Williams’ praise: “Hank III is a friend who understates his role in the future of country music, but I’m proud to be thought of as a torch bearer of real country music.” In the 2005 Austin Music Awards, Watson was named Best Songwriter and his band was chosen over that of Willie Nelson to win a third Best Country Band. He was also inducted into The Austin Music Hall of Fame. Watson was born in Birmingham, Ala., and raised in Pasadena, Texas, and began performing at 14. In 25 years, he has appeared in clubs and concert venues across the United States and Europe. He’s recorded hundreds of original songs — including a cut featured in the new A&E Network series “Rollergirls” and its soundtrack and some of which are part of major film soundtracks,. Watson tunes have been part of numerous compilation albums with country legends including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam, and he has performed live with Nelson as well as Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck. His music videos have aired on Country Music Television, and he’s appeared on “Grand Ol’ Opry” and “Austin City Limits.” In “Naked Nashville,” a 1998 documentary that also starred Watson and focused on traditional country music’s struggle against the Nashville Pop Country machine, Nelson proclaims, “I’m one of Dale’s biggest fans.”