Honky Tonk Highway

. . . who would have had his 63rd birthday yesterday if'n fate'n other things hadn't blocked his troubled path on New Year's Day ten years ago.

Initially, I had a lot of difficulty listening to Townes Van Zandt singing his own songs. After persevering for a couple of years, something clicked within ME and he's now become one of my most cherished and played singer/songwriters.

A biography, To Live's to Fly - The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt, has recently been released and, by all accounts, it's a damn good read. If you feel like chasing an out and out enigma around the spiked musical sphere he lived in, this could be for you. Here's a brief review:

To Live's to Fly
The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt
by John Kruth

The first-ever biography of the elusive and influential musician
whose tragic life became the stuff of legend. Includes 40 rare photographs. To Live’s to Fly is the bracing, fully authorized biography of singer-songwriter-guitarist Townes Van Zandt (1944–1997), who wrote such classic songs as If I Needed You and Waitin’ ’round to Die

Born to a wealthy oil family in Ft. Worth, hounded by alcoholism and unshakable depression, Van Zandt pursued an often nomadic existence on the fringes of society. Along the way, he composed a striking body of work simultaneously heartbreaking in its beauty and terrifying in its willingness to go to the darkest of places. His songs were covered by such artists as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard (who scored a No. l hit duetting on Van Zandt’s signature tune Pancho and Lefty), Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Nanci Griffith, the Cowboy Junkies, Tindersticks, and Mudhoney.

John Kruth has interviewed nearly everyone who was close to Townes Van Zandt, including his best friend, songwriter Guy Clark; musical colleagues like Steve Earle, John Prine, Rodney Crowell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Jerry Jeff Walker; as well as his ex-wives and children. What emerges is the portrait of a tremendously intelligent and charismatic man with a warm sense of humor and a generous nature...and an unstoppable inclination toward self-destruction. Van Zandt lived life on his own terms - and died of a heart attack on New Year’s Day, the same day his idol, Hank Williams, died forty-four years earlier.

To Live’s to Fly is the compelling story of a generation of truly outlaw country artists, one that captures all the humor, hijinks, poetry, and heartbreak of this most revered of songwriters.

“A fervent tribute to a true legend of American songwriting. John Kruth has tracked the back
story of Townes Van Zandt like a manic bloodhound without spoiling the mystery of the man.”
-- Sam Shepard

“...[a] detail- laden yet very readable book that well might revive Van Zandt’s memory.” --Booklist

About the Author:

John Kruth is a songwriter and musician with eight albums to his credit. He is the author of Bright Moments: The Life and Legacy of Rashaan Roland Kirk. He lives in New York City.

It's been a while but here's another likely looking night out at the Erskineville Bowlos Club:
. . . and here's Rob Luckey and the Lucky Bastards' gigs for the rest of March:

Thu 8 Mar 2007 8:30 P
Royal Hotel, Leichhardt Sydney

Thu 15 Mar 2007 8:30 P
Royal Hotel, Leichhardt Sydney

Thu 22 Mar 2007 8:30 P
Royal Hotel, Leichhardt Sydney

Sat 24 Mar 2007 9:00 P
Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt Sydney

Sun 25 Mar 2007 5:30 P
Riverview Hotel, Balmain sydney

Thu 29 Mar 2007 8:30 P
Royal Hotel, Leichhardt Sydney

Hunter & Suzy Owens

Here's the contents of a mail out from Hunter & Suzy:

Howdy Music Lovers...

Well, we are finally getting the music up and going this year...just like Jake and Elwood Blues we are "getting the band back together again" (thanks for the allusion, Brian!) and will be doing a string of monthly gigs beginning this weekend. So sharpen your pencils, get out those diaries and please take note!

Friday 9th March at The Windsor Function and Entertainment Centre (on the corner of Macquarie and Dight Sts, Windsor). We are headlining and will be supported by Tall Timbre. The doors open at 7:30pm and the show kicks off at 8:30pm. Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 for a table of 10 (contact 4577 9399 for info). We know it is a long way to go and expensive for you inner city dwellers, but we are told the venue is a lovely refurbished old building with a great dance floor...it is something a bit different for us anyway, and the sound will be done by a dedicated sound person on a big system, so it will be punchier than usual...if you make it, great, otherwise you can catch us the following night...

Saturday 10th March at the Gladstone Hotel, 572 Marrickville Rd, Dulwich Hill, 9pm-midnight. This is now a non-smoking venue with a decent dance floor, all of which suits us just fine! Hope you can make it.

We will be playing both gigs with what we call our "A-team" lineup: Doug Bligh on drums, Jake Lardot on electric guitar, Tomi Graso on pedal steel and, of course, us truly.

We look forward to seeing you at either one or both of these gigs (we know that some of you are truly suckers for punishment!). And one more thing...we have some copies of a new-look, limited release edition of our "Honkytonk Angels" CD...if yours has been lost, stolen, given away, or is just plain worn out, this is your opportunity to get another one of those live recordings, currently very rare. And yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that a new CD is long overdue...we have the songs but not the time...your patience will be rewarded.

Peace and Love to All,
Hunter & Suzy


PS Our blog: http://hunterandsuzy.blogspot.com/

H&S Band info on Gladstone Hotel website: http://www.gladstonehotel.com.au/gladbands/hunter_suzy_owens.html

A reminder that Limpin Jimmy & the Swingin' Kitten's gig guide (out now!) can be accessed either here or via the link at the right of this page.

. . . is back in town . . .

. . . and playing the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle tonight and tomorrow night (Friday & Saturday). There's a cover charge but this guy is well worth it and remains one of country music's finest troubadours of our times. Don't miss!