In many ways, Townes Van Zandt is the prototypical Texas singer-songwriter: a born traveler and raconteur who somehow never caught on in the world at large. But you don’t need to be a Texan to understand him. His best songs chronicle the human spirit in all its messiness, or, as he succinctly put it, “to live is to fly, all low and high.”
Laura Marling was born and raised in England, and her music is often held up as a link in the British folk chain, but the darkness she often wears on her sleeve is inspired by Van Zandt. Poetry and reality live side-by-side in her songs, all low and high.
Last week, Marling helped induct Van Zandt into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, and she also took some time to pay tribute in our Studio 1A. Download Marling’s cover of “For The Sake Of The Song” below.
–Art Levy
