We took the following review from the online site country.de:
On New Year’s morning 1997, the life of one of the greatest and most influential US singer-songwriters came to an end: Townes van Zandt died at the age of just 52. He, who had written so many beautiful and sad country songs, was destroyed by his demons. The suffering of the world and himself and the means with which he tried to escape this suffering. He would have been 80 years old on March 7th.
In the year of his 80th birthday, the great tribute project “To Live Is To Fly” shows that Townes van Zandt’s art is also alive in this country and that artists explicitly refer to him. The three German Americana musicians Markus Rill, Mr. Jones and Robert Hasleder have recorded an album with twelve songs.
Eleven classics written by Townes such as the title song, “Tecumseh Valley” or “Pancho & Lefty” as well as the tribute song “The Late Great TVZ” by Markus Rill. Rill, who is one of the leading Americana musicians in Germany and Europe, learned his craft in Austin, Texas. Back in Germany he was allowed to open a concert for him and since then van Zandt has been one of his great heroes. “The Late Great TVZ” is a very moving song tribute to the great Texas singer-songwriter.
For Mr. Jones, the Americana singer-songwriter from Lower Bavaria, Townes “embodies the traveling troubadour like no other” when he discovered him in the mid-1990s. “I always had the feeling that these were songs ‘right from the bottom of the heart’ and not second-hand feelings,” he remembers. And further: “What was particularly fascinating was the fact that you could get so close to him and that he was the author of these poetic, often deeply sad songs, which always included a lot of autobiography.” And even today, Mr. Jones is always there surprised that “even after so many years, I can still discover new facets in the songs.”
The result is a fascinating album with gripping and moving versions of van Zandt’s songs: a tribute worthy of the great artist.
08. März 2024