Lonesome Townes
Smoking, drinking, and eating saltines on the trail of a Texas music legend
‘He loved his life. He just couldn’t live it.’
Austin wasn’t always a crash pad for tech bros
I knew just how the motel would be: “groovy” in that Austin way; retro but millennial in schemes of pink and orange; perhaps a neon sign that spelled in cursive, “Y’all Means All!” or “In Willie We Trust.” Nevertheless, I’d found a room for half the going rate, and I’m hardly in the business of turning down a deal. Upon my near-midnight arrival, the lobby’s yawning concierge handed me a key of the sort that has the mailing address printed on the keychain, and written on the flip side: “SO CLOSE YET SO FAR OUT.” “And will you need to park your vehicle?” she asked. “Yes — well, it’s not mine,” I witnessed myself ramble from a mortified remove. “I’m kind of borrowing my ex’s car. I mean, it’s a long story.” “Oh... ” said the young lady, unenthused. “I just need the license plate.” Lying supine on the queen bed with my shoes on moments later, it struck me that it must’ve been a year since I was last in town. I always seem to make it just in time for Texas’ annual freeze, where …