A country-western and folk singer, Van Zandt struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and was diagnosed as a manic depressive when he was in his early 20's. He was born into oil money, but never comfortable with his family wealth. In the "These Days" interview, Earle noted that Van Zandt's first marriage broke up because he used to bring homeless people to the house all the time. Earle suggests Van Zandt couldn't reconcile having so much money for luck of birth when there's so much poverty around. For much of the 1970s, Van Zandt lived in a shack on the outskirts of Nashville with no running water or electricity. He did, however, keep writing songs and performing in the small venues that were his preference.
Van Zandt was a mentor to Earle, so much so that Earle named his first son Townes. Earle admired Van Zandt as an artist - for his songwriting skills and his purist approach to the art. Van Zandt was notoriously flip about the recording industry and success in the business, saying he was going to write great songs no matter what. Earle admits he was ambitious and wanted to make a living at his art. I would imagine their similar struggles with heroin and alcohol bound them as well. Earle admitted there's a lot of survivor's guilt in this new album made up entirely of Van Zandt covers. Townes Van Zandt died in 1997 from complications due to long-term addiction. Here he is playing his song "Waiting to Die" in the 1981 documentary "Heartworn Highways."
