Townes Van Zandt was born in Fort Worth on March 7th 1944 so that seemed an appropriate place to start. I discovered the songs of Townes via listening to Steve Earle and ever since respected Townes as being the standard to measure against. He maybe never had the commercial success that he deserved but like the best art, don’t reckon that was what it was all about for him anyway.
I arrived late in town and managed to make the transfer from the airport a lot more complicated than it needed to be but it was cheap. Next morning, I woke to a Texas Flood …tipping down with rain and high winds to match …jist like Glasgow. By about 09:30, the storm had passed and it was time to explore. Had a wander around town before heading to catch the Texas Eagle train down to Austin.
One of the first Guy Clark tracks I remember hearing wasDublin Blues – it starts with the line “I wish I was in Austin, in the Chili Parlour Bar drinking mad dog margaritas and not caring where you are”. Found out that the bar (and drink) existed and over the years it was added to the “must visit” list. I arrived in Austin, found my hotel and went out with a wee map to find the place. Original plan had been to only stay for a bite to eat and one drink (a mad dog margarita obviously) but the music and atmosphere was too good to leave so I stayed. When I did leave I had a wander down to 6th Street for a look about – nice but it felt more like a Friday night in Glasgow than anything especially Texan.
Next morning saw an early rise and a walk over to the south side of Austin with two objectives in mind. The first was to visit the Stevie Ray Vaughan memorial in Auditorium Shores. Found it with a little help from a passing runner. Still remember the first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan – it was on the Tommy Vance Friday Night Rock Show live from the Reading Festival back in 1983 and it blew me away. Sadly, like Townes, I never got to see him live and still listen to the music which forms his legacy. Also had a look about the quirky South Congress area – great wee area with diners and some mad shops. Thought about a new pair of cowboy boots but decided against them …perfect for Texas but less so for Glasgow ! Hung about to see the bats which roost under the South Congress Bridge get up for the evening before jumping the Texas Eagle again down to San Antonio.
Riding a train to “San Antone” simply felt right – various songwriters have used the line and it is a good one. Arrived really late to find my hotel had been flooded out – no great issue since they already had sorted me another place to stay. They offered a taxi but when I found out it was only a few minutes away, decided to walk. Not really sure why, but the hotel folks insisted on an armed guard escorting me!?!
Woke to another beautiful day and headed out for breakfast. Eating on my own has never bothered me but the waitress gave a strange look as if to say “are you on your own” …either that or the sight of my beard and rucksack scared her. Went down to see the historic Alamo – had always imagined it being somewhere remote rather than in the city centre. Had planned on doing the tour but a historic letter had been delivered and was on display so the place was queued out, so watched a re-enactment of the final siege instead. With not a lot of time till my flight over to El Paso, the rest of the afternoon was spent rambling around the river walk.
Not the song that I was going to post ...but one of the most authentic things I have ever seen.
Texas lived up to expectation and must go back to Austin again – if for nothing else, I missed the music madness of SXSW by only a few weeks !
Some photographs
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