| Kathleen Hudson Column for
March 18, 2001 "Tribute to Townes" |
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Well, once again my plate of food for this column is full and overflowing. Wednesday, March 7, I attended the annual birthday tribute to Townes Van Zandt ("Pancho and Lefty," "If I Needed You") at the Cactus Café in Austin. Butch Hancock hosted the event, and the lineup of people singing a song by Townes was awesome! It was a tough drive in the middle of the week (and I didn't do the driving), but now I know the effort was worth it. Roxy Gordon, one year departed, was a soul brother to Townes and celebrates the same birthday. Griff Luneburg, Cactus Café manager, could be seen pulling the entire event together as we went along. On stage, the transition from song to song seemed the result of perfect planning. Ah, the syncronicity of trusting the performers and the timing. Some of the highlights include the following: hearing Micky White and Donnie Silverman (longtime sidemen for Townes) play "White Freight Liner" with Butch; closing my eyes while Townes' son, J.T., sang about Colorado sounding just like Townes; discovering the distinct voice of Michael Fracasso singing "Marie," noticing the church-like silence in the packed room; hearing the stories of Ray Wylie Hubbard and more and more. What an evening! Eric Taylor, hot on the heels of his new release on Eminent Records and an old friend of Townes, sang my favorite line, "Sorrow and solitude, those are the precious things." Before I could take a breath, Beaver Nelson nailed a version of a card game between Mudd and Gold. Some interpretations were smooth and melodic, some captured the rough edges. And Pat Macdonald, what an interpretation of Townes, complete with rolling guitar rhythm. Pat first made his mark as half of Timbuk 3. I will go to the Pat showcase at South by Southwest this week. Nathan Hamilton, a relatively new voice on the scene, sang "If I had no place to go…" And the room was filled with the plaintiff, mournful, solitary sounds of Townes, as his words and music, interpreted by many voices, filled the air and filled our spirits. And the grand finale was grand. Jimmy LaFave may interpret Dylan better than Dylan, and he certainly gave us a wonderful LaFave version of Townes. He sang "Snowin' on Raton," and said, "I'm doing this even though Ray Wylie did it earlier." Butch later joked that each year we could have the "Snowin' on Raton" contest. Everyone sings that song. Joe Ely took the stage, beginning with the words, "The name she gave was Carolina." We heard "Waitin' Around to Die," and Butch sang a song "Townes wished he had written," "Ira Hayes." J.T. joined him. Butch ended with a song about Townes including the line "He's a long sunset." "Pancho and Lefty" was the last song of the evening. I left moved, shaken, transported and inspired. Thursday, March 8, a New Folk winner, Deirdre Flint, visited my creative writing class. She performed songs from her CD, "Shuffleboard Queens" and described her writing process. I need an entire column for this! She did begin by saying that her life was ordinary, not tragic; therefore, she chose to write about minor disappointments. My students appreciated her humor. Friday I gave a workshop called "Telling Your Story" for a group of women at the Lockhart prison. A fitting bit of volunteer work for Women's History Month. We read the story "Who Speaks For Wolf" and answered the question "What may we learn from this?" I learned a lot from this afternoon. Saturday, I spent the day with an amazing group of creative people at the Jung Society in San Antonio studying with Linda Leonard on the creative process. She has named the "characters" that stop us, and the group added personal experiences to support the naming. Who is the "cynic" in your own life? Who says, "It won't make a difference?" I will continue to attend workshops offered by the Jung Society. I felt like I had suddenly been planted in nourishing soil, and I needed that! Ahead:
Free Leonard and down the road. |