Townes is one of those singer/songwriters known mostly, and often only, by other singer/songwriters as one of the best who ever lived. His legacy stretched much farther than Townes probably ever realized during his unfortunately abbreviated lifetime, which no doubt is made quite clear in the new documentary film from Palm Pictures, Be Here to Love Me.
I, for one, heard the name Townes Van Zandt for the first time when one of my biggest mentors covered one of Townes' songs at an open mic night eight years ago. Townes had just passed away, and I was so struck by the beauty, insight, and narration of the lyrics, that I went out and bought a copy of No Deeper Blue soon after.
Through the years, I've only ever heard Townes' name from other folksingers. Often in the context of reverence, when people are mentioning other greats like Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie. So I found myself wondering curiously as I looked over the crowd of bearded 20-something men and older guys in denim jackets, where these people first heard about Townes Van Zandt.
It was a standing-room-only event, for the most part, but there was an area of seats off to the stage-left side of the room, where the aging, non-smoking Folkies sat intently watching indie rock bands like Transmissionary Six perform their versions of these classic cowboy folk songs.
For the most part, the interpretations were beautiful. There aren't a lot of ways you can butcher a Townes Van Zandt tune. They're just that water tight. Even more interesting was the part where members of Dinosaur Jr. and the Capillaries tossed out their original songs which, they claimed, were inspired by Townes' work.
It's amazing when a man who died young after having experienced little fame and success in his lifetime can be evidenced as having touched so many different musicians in so many different ways with his gift. These originals included everything from guitar-heavy droning indie rock to good old-fashioned folk songs, complete with ukulele solos.
As I drove home through even more, thicker snow that melted before it hit the wet pavement, I thought about the similar events that were taking place this week around the country in cities like New York and Austin, Texas, and I thought of how Townes’ work, like the melting snow, changed into something more indelible.
