I first discovered singer-songwriter Mike Nisbet through his debut album Vagrant, which if you haven’t heard is often poignant, sometimes catchy and ultimately one to remember. Mike’s suggestion was (for me) like rifling through a stack of old records and choosing one a great one by chance: American Country-folk singer Townes Van Zandt. I’ll leave it to him to tell you more…
Townes Van Zandt – ‘Townes Van Zandt’
This is one of my favourite albums, released on 1969 i guess it’s a ‘classic’. Songs of a man telling it straight, how he’s feeling about lovers, life and passing of time. It’s like a friend you can return to when you need them, someone who’ll take you under their arm and say ‘it’s ok man, lets have a whisky, and I’ll tell you a story about that’
The album soars from from beautiful highs to cut throat lows, with lines like ‘I tried to hide the pain / bought some wine and hopped a train / well it’s easier than waitin’ around to die’ from the track Waitin’ Around To Die, making you think ‘what’s this all about?’ But the sweetness of Colorado Girl reminds you why the world is beautiful. ‘the promise in her smile / shames the mountains tall /she can bring the sun shining/ and tell the rain to fall’
A man who knew him well, Steve Earle, once said ‘Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that’ and I’d stand there with him.
Listen to the title track from Mike’s album here…
playthatsongforme.wordpress.com 