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J.T. Van Zandt plays the BMI Stage on Friday 5:30-6:15 p.m.

XL on ACL:

Sunday
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• ACLove: Austin At Its Best
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• So Long!

Saturday
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• When Pigs Fly
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Friday
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• Yeah, baby, yeah!
• Corcoran Reviews
• Capsule Reviews
• Jam Bands

Need-To-Know
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More XL ACL Reading
• CD Reviews
• Jam-packed
• REM: Still Shiny, Still Happy
• The Many Faces of Al Green
• Stapleton's Sweet Success
• Live music 101, v. 2
• Liz Phair
• Jeff Klein
• Raul Malo
• Rise of Southern Rock
• J.T. Van Zandt
• Beth Orton

XL on ACL: J.T. Van Zandt Has Nothing to Sell You

By Brad Buchholz
Austin American-Statesman
Sept. 18, 2003

J.T. Van Zandt is the rare performer at the Austin City Limits Music Festival who doesn't have a compact disc on the market or a record deal in the works. In fact, Van Zandt -- the 34-year-old son of the late, legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt -- suggests he does not even pine for such things.

"One of my biggest sources of pride is Townes' honesty," says Van Zandt, who bears a stunning physical resemblance to his father. "And I've learned from Townes' experience that it's not a matter of letting just a little commercialism get into the music. It's a matter of letting absolutely none of it at all."

Van Zandt didn't lobby for a spot at this year's festival. Rather, he's appearing at the insistence of promoter Charles Attal, an old friend. It's rare that Van Zandt even plays music in public. During the past year, he's played more gigs at Central Texas nursing homes than at Austin bars.

Ask J.T. Van Zandt his profession, and he'll say "boat-builder" or "carpenter" or "fly-fishing guide." He claims to love nature too deeply -- frequently seeking solitude or work in the San Juan Mountains or the Texas Gulf Coast --to be a "full-time" songwriter or musician. Yet it's clear, in conversation, that many of the father's musical passions are alive in the son. He has the same affinity for the blues, the same poetic air, the same empathy for the poor and the lonely.

Indeed, it was J.T. who performed Pete LaFarge's "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" -- a staple of his father's live set -- at the "Austin City Limits" musical memorial for Townes Van Zandt six years ago. J.T. still has a hard time watching the tape of that show, for it was the first time he'd ever performed before a formal audience. "I've worked a lot on my finger-picking since that night," he says with a smile.

What will J.T. play this weekend? He'll probably pay homage to Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt. He'll cover a couple of tunes made famous by his father, who died in 1997. And he'll sing a few originals. The only frame that he puts around his music is that it draws from folk or blues traditions -- and touches something genuine.

"I haven't written a set list yet," Van Zandt said earlier this month before flying to Scotland, where he was to perform at a concert honoring his father. "I'm just going to go out there and hope my monotone, deep voice carries out there. I'm going to try to make it as much like a gig show, a pub show, as I possibly can. I really don't have any other tricks."

Van Zandt will perform alone, just the man and his guitar. There is no band. There is no record. There is no contract. There is no presumption that the show will lead to something else.

It was the father, after all, who once wrote a song called "For the Sake of the Song." The spirit runs in the family.

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