Heartworn Highways (Remastered, 1976)

The music speaks for itself in this performance documentary that highlights some of the biggest names within the country-folk scene in Texas and Tennessee during the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976, eschewing narration and staged interviews.
Helmed by filmmaker James Szalapski, Heartworn Highways is an iconic performance documentary that masterfully captures this magical slice of time through encounters with many of the true progenitors of the outlaw country scene. These radical country artists reclaimed the genre via an appreciation for its heritage in folk and bluegrass and a rejection of the mainstream Nashville machine. Some of country music’s great songwriters, including Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Young, David Allan Coe, Larry Jon Wilson, and Steve Earle appear on both screen and soundtrack, where musical highlights include Clark’s brilliant “Desperados Waiting For A Train,” Young’s stirring “Alabama Highways” and Van Zandt’s emotional “Waiting ‘Round To Die.”