Heartworn Highways

Heartworn Highways refuses that historicizing assessment, even resists it. The film would certainly not have become the canonical documentary it has without the subsequent success of its subjects, but their names are never the emphasis here.

Shot in 1975 but not released until 1981, this documentary by James Szalapski captures the nascent stages of a poetic country music played by Texas outsiders like Guy Clark, Steve Young, Townes Van Zandt, and a young Steve Earle.

An essential artifact and document of that scene and sound is filmmaker James Szalapski's long-inaccessible documentary Heartworn Highways, a film with as much of a devoted cult as the music itself.

HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS fell in line with the great hangout movies of the past 50 years when authority started to lose its power and a few moments of creativity was worth more than its weight in gold.

James Szalapski's documentary is very loose, with scant attention paid to these men's backgrounds, careers, or how they do/don't fit into the existing industry hierarchy.

The only thing flawed about "Heartworn Highways" is the people, and they're so likable you'll quickly look past their less desirable qualities or notions.