Full of spunk and charm, Dale Watson and His LoneStars delighted thousands Saturday at the Railroad Stage with a seamless fusion of traditional country and upbeat swing.

For close to an hour, the tattooed, honky-tonk musician and his cohorts from Austin, Texas, captivated the audience with country-swing ditties and barroom ballads.

A solid strummer of chugging low-end rhythms, Watson sent toes tapping with his electric guitar and competed with the bended-note melodies of the steel slide guitar as they poured off the stage with fluid resonance. Drummer Gary Weisner provided the bouncing thump that drove the songs between intermittent drum fills.

Belting out emotional lyrics about temptation and true friends, Watson shifted vocally from gravelly to high-pitched twang. In his full-bodied baritone, Watson recalled a splash of Elvis Presley with healthy doses of Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash – the latter of which he matched perfectly in a cover of “I Walk the Line.”

Despite a chill in the air and darkened skies, the spirited quartet sparked a few impromptu line dances by the end of its set.

– Anthony Saucier