I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt

Kevin Russell

kevin russell It’s cold down on the bayou, they say it’s in your mind But the moccasins are treading ice and leaving strange designs –TVZ, “Two Girls,” from The Nashville Sessions k evinRussell’scolorfulnarratives(suchas“ElPaso”and“Lower 48”) and nonlinear country blues (“Hooky Junk” and “Cranky Mulatto”) accurately represent the mystique of Austin, Texas. Afterall,thecapitalcity’sunofficialmottois“KeepAustinWeird.”While living in the heart of South Austin, one of the city’s primary gathering points for bohemian craft and creativity, Russell and fellow songwriter JimmySmithformed The Gourds duringthe early1990s. Neighborhood anchor Jovita’s Mexican restaurant hosted several of the band’s early concerts. “There was a lot of communal freedom there,” says Russell, born May 21, 1967, in Beaumont, Texas. “People were always on their front porches, walking around and talking to each other.”1 Album such as Dem’s Good Beeble (1996), Stadium Blitzer (1998), Gogitchyershinebox (1998), and Ghosts of Hallelujah (1999) immediately displayed the band’s knack for animated and surrealistic wordplay. Each pushes boundaries with adventurous instrumentation made even more diverse by (L-R) Kevin Russell, Jimmy Smith, Threadgill’s World Headquarters, Austin, TX, July 7, 2007 keVIn ruSSell 183 multi-instrumentalistMaxJohnston(formerlyofUncleTupelo),whohas aligned The Gourds since joining to recordGogitchyershinebox. By millennium ’s turn, The Gourds’ “winning combination of fine musicianship, top-notch songwriting (by Russell and Smith) and glowing harmonies” earned the band a growing national following.2 Raucous live shows quickly became a trademark, with Gourds members swapping instruments in concert as frequently as Steve Earle digresses into politics. Russell, a flamboyant showman who often incorporates techniques such as Chuck Berry’s signature “duck walk,” remains the focal point throughout.3 “When we moved to Austin in 1996, the first show we attended was a Gourds show with Kelly Willis and Toni Price at the old Waterloo Brewing Company,” says Reckless Kelly’s Cody Braun. “We were all blown away by the high energy. They are what Austin music is supposed to sound like—well-played original music that makes you want to drink and dance till the lights go out.”4 Innovative interpretations both likely (including the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” and Doug Sahm’s “Crossroads”) and unforeseen (R. Kelly’s “Feelin’ on Yo Booty”) typically prove high points. In fact, the band has madeitsmostwidespreadimpressionwithanacousticbluegrassversion of rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” from Gogetchyershinebox. Several online sources mistakenly attribute the song to Blues Traveler, Phish, and the Dave Matthews Band, unwittingly spreading Gourds music through the international jam-band community. Especially when touring outside Texas, the song remains among the band’s most requested in concert. “If you’re in the mood for it and we’re in the mood for it, it can be great,” Russell says. “Sometimes we’re not in the mood, and it’s the wrong thing to do.” Gourds keyboardist Claude Bernard acknowledges the band at times believes it to be an albatross: “We tried to drop [‘Gin and Juice’] from our shows, but you really can’t.”5 Russell’s songs on recent Gourds albums such as Heavy Ornamentals (2006), Noble Creatures (2007), and Haymaker! (2009) retain expected eccentricity (for instance, “How Will You Shine” and “Shreveport”), 184 I’ll Be Here In THe MornInG but lyrics are perhaps more aged with wisdom (“Our Patriarch” and “Steeple Full of Swallows”).6 Accordingly, his appreciation for Townes Van Zandt developed over time. “I first heard Townes in Jacksonville, Florida,” Russell says, “but the only Van Zandt I was interested in those days was Ronnie Van Zandt.”7 Russell’s side project Shinyribs recorded a ramshackle version of Townes Van Zandt’s “Dollar Bill Blues” for the tribute album More Townes Van Zandt by the Great Unknown (For the Sake of the Song Records, 2010), a follow-up collection to Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via the Great Unknown (2009). • • • kevin russell Ididn’tknownothin’aboutnoTownesVanZandtuntilafterhewasdead. My connection with Townes is purely as a fan. The Gourds have done some of his songs in the past; several we’ve done for weddings in Texas. We’ve played “Two Girls,” “Pancho and Lefty,” “If I Needed You.” I was going to play one in Durango, Colorado, the other night, but I forgot. I wasgoingtoplay“TwoGirls,”becausethisfriendofoursjusthadtwins. I was just out of it and didn’t remember to do it. It’s been a while since we’ve done any of those songs anyway. We’d have...