And Van Zandt’s addiction was the kind of risk he couldn’t avoid. Townes Van Zandt’s “Snake Song” opens with a first-person account of a snake warning its enemies. It’ll bite ...

The seeds in Townes Van Zandt’s hand are ground. What cannot be remembered can be remembered, the seeds are pulverized and bitterly soaked in beer. Glug glug is a sound, left in the throat by the ...