03/13/2023
In the words of Guy Clark after phoning his manager to tell him not to book any more shows, afterarriving back home with Verlon and lighting a hand rolled cigarette,
"Let's recap"
Turnout for the movie night was very good. Looked like the Rose Chapel was at least halfway full, maybe even 2/3.
Met a couple of new folks, kindred spirits who loved being with other people who love and deeply appreciate Guy and Townes, and having an gathering to share that love.
Saturday's rehearsal was hard work, by everyone involved. I was so proud of everyone:
the amazing Jeff Gibbons, who was the Energizer Bunny, seemingly everywhere at once (as he had been all week), Pat Tremble, who told me he hadn't played or sung since the last time we did the play more than three years ago, the wonderful Peggy Bott Kirby, who in addition to being a formidable actress, was a calming and crucial presence in assuring Dorothy Barra that her performance of "If I Needed You" was spot on, my incredible wife, Dorothy, who has become so much more than a dependable narrator when given the opportunity to ACT (she cracked me up onstage with her line calling Guy and Townes as****es), my brother, Gary Payne, who is gold on stage and makes perfect choices every time, Mike Hinshaw, who's been my wingman and rock solid on the slides since the first performance of "Townes Van Zandt and the Fort Worth Blue" and Pella (who's name i finally got right and is now indelibly implanted in my brain, who acquired herself admirably in dealing with learning tech on the fly after Jeff drafted her and made everyone sound great as she navigated the intricacies of running live sound, Buddy Lane, Steve Obermiller, and Matthew Williams, and Karen Mason, who took care of all the crap that needed to be be done so other folks could shine.
And on to the musicians, who took the time and gave their talent and abilities to share songs they love, whose creators aren't here anymore:
Betsy Cummings, whose duet with me on "Fort Worth Blues" traditionally kicks off the singer/songwriter tribute. Singing with her is a highlight for me every year.
Kävin Allenson, who has been there for every edition of homeTOWNESfest, and keeps Blaze Foley and Townes' songs alive,
Keith Ditto, who always does such a great job early and stays to hear every else. That means a lot, brother Keith,
I met Roy Boy, who anchors the Thursday edition of Texas Renegade Radio on KNON, and recorded almost every performance to share with his listeners on air,
and Chito, who was one of the brightest lights in his segments of the Townes documentary "Be Here to Love Me" talking about being Townes' best friend growing up in Fort Worth and who shared much of the same experiences as Townes. (He looks almost exactly the same, even decades later),
This year's winner of the came from farthest away (no such thing) was Katy and Tom Noyes, AKA Zombie Plowboy, who traveled from Oregon for their annual visit to Cowtown, and it finally coincided with homeTOWNESfest. When I had a motion to write a play to get this thing off the ground, I tried to recruit Tom to be my guitar player. He said he love to, but they were moving to Oregon. They were the unofficial keepers of the flame for Fort Worth fans of TVZ, so it was a dream come true for them to make their Townesfest debut this year.
Dalton Maroney performed a couple of non-Fred Eaglesmith songs and acquitted himself admirably. (Thanks, Dalton. You were great!)
Lee Snaples crushed it on a Townes via Springsteen "Racing in the Street", which he learned from a Townes cover (that counts, by the way). Bonus points because he thought Townes wrote it. Super bonus points for sharing his story about busking in New Zealand and being asked if he knew any Townes Van Zandt.
It was a real pleasure to meet Cameron Smith, one of the younger generation with Townes in his blood. Boy howdy, he was good!
Buddy Lane, who pushed pretty hard for me to move Townesfest to the Hall (thank god), sang some Lightnin' Hopkins, who greatly influenced Townes' style of finger-picking, and some David Olney, one of Townes' contemporaries who was no slouch of a songwriter himself, joined by Jeff Gibbons and Karen Mason for a version of "Snowing on Raton" that'd make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Mine did.
I believe it was around this time that young Jack Barksdale got up there to amaze us all with a brand new Gibson Hummingbird guitar damn near as big as he is that provided a divinely inspired accompaniment to "I'll Be There in the Morning" (several of us were weeping openly by the time he finished) and "Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel", an underrated gem that to the best of my recollection was the Townesfest debut of that tune.
Then James Nored, who introduced me to Jack, proved his mettle with his interpretations, that included my favorite TVZ that I don't perform myself, "None But the Rain". Wow!
Then Tommy Luke jumped onstage to play. I apologize for not having made a note of which song he played, but he crushed it.
