Townes Van Zandt To Join Rice University Panel

Fondren Library and the Woodson Research Center at Rice University will host a discussion panel about late singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt , featuring a longtime accompanist of his and editors of a recent book of essays about him.

The March 16 event will include panelists Mickey White , Ann Holbrook, Dan Beller-McKenna and Todd Hearon, who will be discussing Van Zandt’s work from personal and scholarly angles.

White was Van Zandt’s guitarist from 1974-1989 and has written a memoir which chronicles his experiences with the folk musician. Holbrook and Beller-McKenna edited a book about Van Zandt titled “ For the Sake of the Song ,” and Hearon is a Townes enthusiast and a Texas songwriter himself. Holbrook will speak about how her 2017 sabbatical connected her to Van Zandt’s work and led to the book, while Hearon will discuss Van Zandt’s use of internal rhyme and Bellar-McKenna is tackling Woodson’s 1965-1966 Gardner recordings .

“Putting together the panel seemed like it would be kind of a fun thing to do,” said Norie Guthrie, an archivist and special collections librarian in the Woodson Research Center and the creator of Fondren’s Houston Folk Music Archive . “I think people will be excited that Mickey is there, and they’ll want to hear him tell stories about Townes.”

Guthrie also edited a chapter in the book of essays, with writings from one of the Houston Folk Music Archive collections donated by Van Zandt’s longtime friend, the late Richard Dobson. She said the level of interest still surrounding Van Zandt’s music may come as a surprise to some.

“There’s a level of fandom that is intense with Townes Van Zandt,” she said. “His work is very well-respected. Bob Dylan spent a lot of time just trying to track him down. His work is widely respected among songwriters, and I think that kind of exploration should be fun for people to witness.”