Songwriters: Rodney Crowell

Yeah, he's a good one. He's written more extraordinary songs than most. This one is my favorite. Crowell is a minimalist at heart--carefully selecting a few images and phrases to provoke a world, and a life, in the minds of his listeners. He's the finest Texas poet I know. This is a beautiful (but not pretty) and deeply moving portrait of a family.

Songwriters: Townes van Zandt

I think I'm going to do some frequent music posts for the next week or two. I've thought for a long time I might pay tribute to some of my favorite songwriters, but I haven't got so far as to actually make a list of them. Anyway, I stumbled across this Townes van Zandt video this morning. Townes was most famous for "Poncho and Lefty," covered by Merle Haggard and many others. For that song alone he might make my top ten! The song below is "Tecumseh Valley," and it's a sad one (sad and Townes definitely go together). A typical heart-breaking country ballad with sweet harmonies from Nanci Griffith, it's a classic example of Townes' style.