When/where did you first hear Townes Van Zandt?

I was a big fan of the Cowboy Junkies starting mid 90's and they attributed Townes as a big influence, so i checked him out and fell in love.

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I'm not sure anymore; but it was almost certainly after he was already dead (c'est la vie). But I wanted to share this review from last year in the Tucson Weekly. The writer adopts this oh-so glib and irreverent tone that only makes his ignorance of his subject all the more embarrassing. He basically concedes that he'd never heard of Townes before he was assigned by his editor to go see and review this documentary. What a friggin' rube. Have at it; let him know what you think:

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Cinema/Content?oid=77029

I first heard of him when I was collecting Steve Earle recordings
"Live at the Bluebird Cafe" is an acoustic set with Townes, Steve and Guy Clarke
They worked so well together
One of my favourite CD's

It was late one night as I drove home from after being dumped by my girlfriend. I was listening to the Idiot's Delight radio show out of New York and they were playing Townes' songs one after another. I had known of him but never really heard his voice. When the set was over (as I sat in my now parked car) the DJ announced that Townes had died the night before.
It was a rough way to learn about him, but the following day I purchased my first three Townes' albums. My life has never been the same!

From the roof of Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas circa 1979. We couldn't afford tickets, but there was a little tree on the side of the building that let you climb onto the roof. You had to look through the large fans that were sucking all of the smoke and hot air out of the place, and the sound was not great, but beggars can't be picky, and it really didn't bother us anyway. Saw him many times after that, at places large and small. He is still one of the few songwriters that can touch me so deeply that I am moved to tears. God bless Townes.

I bought a compilation album of his songs in the late 1980s. I was a rocker who just getting into country and had very little knowledge of proper country music. I bought it partly because he looked "country" on the cover and he had the same last name as the deceased singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd. I hate to admit it but I listened to it a couple of times and filed it away as it was not what I was looking for (I was expecting George Jones or soemthing!).

I also may have nearly saw him live as I was supposed to go and see the Cowboy Junkies in Glasgow or Edinburgh around 1990 (not 100% sure of the year). I had gone off their rather pretentious music by then so I didn't go. I have since read that Townes supported them on a 1990 tour. Of course I don't know if he was there for the European tour. I will kick myself if I ever find out that he was!

Anyway a good few years later, eventually I say an article on the movie Heartworn Highways, saying it was due to be re-released. I thought it sounded pretty interesting. I didn't fancy waiting the few months until it was released in the UK so I started trying to track down music by some of the people featured in it. I already had some Steve Earle and managed to buy some Guy Clark before I realised that I had a Townes Van Zandt CD. By this time I had read many glowing reviews. So (after a search) I dug it out and realised my mistake 10-15 years before. I have been a major fan ever since.

I first heard of him when Nanci Griffith covered "Tecumseh Valley" in 1992. With a lot of great songwriters, sometimes it takes covers by other musicians before they get exposure. He was positively brilliant, as a songwriter and performer.