For the Sake of the Song: The Story of anderson Fair

Documentary Feature, Lone Star States
D: Bruce Bryant; with Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt

With the impending closure of Austin’s Cactus Cafe, this documentary about a venerated Houston folky bar/restaurant of the same ilk is timely. Sometimes slow moving with its fusty cheerleading for the old Montrose haunt Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant, it’s a delight when early footage of so young Clark, Griffith (who the documentary fails to note is singing a song about Anderson Fair), Williams, Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, and, of course, Van Zandt take center stage. The doc’s title comes from a Van Zandt song, and this truly is a story of one of those funky hippie haunts where the music was born in the Seventies. But the doc doesn’t really hit its arc until the damaged trio of Steven Fromholz, Eric Taylor, and Vince Bell – performing as the Flatliners – takes the stage, and they tell of the trials their lives have involved and how the music heals both those who listen and those who create.

Friday, March 19, 8pm, Ritz 2

This article appears in March 19 • 2010.

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