Songwriter Vespers: Townes Van Zandt

The music of Townes Van Zandt will be the focus of Wilshire’s Songwriter Vespers on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 4:30 p.m. in Choral Hall. As with the John Prine Vespers in March, the event will be a blend of a coffeehouse performance and a worship service, with readings and liturgical elements interspersed with Van Zandt songs played by Associate Pastor Darren DeMent and others. Coffee and light snacks will be served. Van Zandt (1944–1997) was a Texas-born “songwriter’s songwriter” known for his poetic lyrics and melancholic style.

Darren DeMent on Townes Van Zandt: “I got turned on to Townes when I moved to Texas in 1996. I was initially drawn to the narrative quality of his songs like ‘Pancho and Lefty’ and ‘Tecumseh Valley.’ But the more I listened, I couldn’t get over how the same person could write some of the most beautiful and uplifting lyrics and some of the most heartbreaking and desperate lyrics I’d ever heard. Townes captures the complete range of emotions and the full spectrum of the human experience in a way few other poets or songwriters can. This disparity will be one of our focuses on Sept 14.”