Country Songwriter Series: Townes Van Zandt

Monday Junehem 5 10AM-2PM
Hosted by Sally Goodin

Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997) was born in Fort Worth to a prominent Texas family. Inspired by seeing Elvis Presley on television in 1956, he got a guitar that Christmas. He was a good student, active in sports, and his family started grooming him to become a lawyer or senator. He went to college in 1962, but by 1964 his parents had brought him home, due to his binge drinking and fits of depression. He was diagnosed as manic-depressive, and received 3 months of the now discredited Insulin Shock Therapy, which wiped out his long term memory.

In 1965 Townes began playing shows in Houston. He started writing his own songs, and moved to Nashville in 1968. Between 1968 and 1979, he released 8 albums. Despite critical acclaim, he remained a cult figure, playing small venues, and living a reclusive life in a shack outside of Nashville.

Townes struggled with drug and alcohol addiction all his adult life, going into rehab but never staying sober for long. Yet in spite of this, he is considered a "songwriter's songwriter" and his songs a source of inspiration and comfort for many.

This program features his songs, sung by him and others.