Preliminary Information:
Townes Van Zandt was born in Fort Worth, TX. This artist experienced a lot of different areas in his childhood as his family was constantly moving around from place to place to support his father’s career in the oil business. Van Zandt went to a military academy for a few years before trying out college in Colorado. Eventually, he dropped out to pursue a folksinging career.
Artifacts
The first artifact I chose is a video of Townes Van Zandt performing on the Texas Connection TV Show in 1990. I chose this artifact because I noticed several interesting performing characteristics of Van Zandt in this video. Several secondary sources I had found discussed that this artist typically played with his eyes closed, and often stood far back from the front edge of the stage in an attempt to protect himself from the crowd of fans below him. There is a slight sadness to his guitar playing and it is very delicate, which I felt was unique to this artist. I feel like a lot of other western folk artists we have discussed in class have played their instruments with a higher energy, almost a bounciness if you will. Van Zandt plays and sings as though he is weak or fragile, which may have been the case as he was reported to have struggled with substance abuse throughout most of his career.
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1830943/m1/
This second artifact I chose is a solo performance by Townes Van Zandt in 1995, which was just before he died from drug-related cardiac problems. Here we see him performing several songs, one being “Marie” from his album: No Deeper Blue. I see a lot of the same performing characteristics in this video as I did in the last one: The distance between himself and his fans, his frequently closed eyes, and his saddened tone of voice.
Along with these two video artifacts, I also found some interesting interview quotes from Townes Van Zandt that I believe encompass his personality as an artist. After reading these, I felt I had a better understanding of how his drug addiction and his signing career mixed to make him the artist he was. These quotes are the ones I found to be the most influential.
“I don’t envision a very long life for myself. I think my life will run out before my work does. I’ve designed it that way.”
“I was just tapped on the shoulder from above and told to write these songs, as opposed to wanting to be a success in the music business.”
“I don’t know why I write really depressing songs. I’m a kind of melancholy guy, I suppose. But I figure I’m about normal.”
I believe that Townes Van Zandt brought a unique performing style to the Western Folk Genre, and expanded what we know of as Texan music and blues music. Although his career was sadly cut short due to his battle with addiction, I do think that his struggles played a large part in who he became as an artist.
Sources:
Jim Sullivan. “A Far Cry from Dead: Remembering Townes Van Zandt.” Rock and Roll Globe, 1 Jan. 2023, https://rockandrollglobe.com/country-and-or-western/a-far-cry-from-dead-remembering-townes-van-zandt/.
“Steven Fromholz and Townes Van Zandt.” The Portal to Texas History, The Texas Connection, 4 May 1990, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1830943/?q=Townes+Van+Zandt.
“Townes Van Zandt Biography, Songs, & Albums.” AllMusic, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/townes-van-zandt-mn0000744796/biography.
Uitti, Jacob. “8 Townes Van Zandt Quotes That Will Make You Rethink the Songwriter’s Career.” American Songwriter, 18 July 2022, https://americansongwriter.com/8-townes-van-zandt-quotes-that-will-make-you-rethink-the-songwriters-career/.
