Austin Bat Cave Benefit Screening of Be Here to Love Me

Townes Van Zandt is certainly a cult figure, a songwriter's songwriter, someone who has influenced more musicians over the years than anyone could count. He became this person by leaving behind everything that he knew to perfect his craft, losing a life but gaining a soul that would live on in the melodies and lyrics that he left behind, all because he put pen to paper. The Austin Bat Cave hopes to inspire that creative force in young writers and you can support them in doing so by attending a benefit screening tonight of Be Here to Love Me, sometimes-Austinite Margaret Brown's film about the life and lyrical journey of Van Zandt.

Remembering our time in the central Texas school system, we can tell you that while our public school teachers do a pretty darn good job of coaxing some interesting writing out of their students, sometimes they are expected to teach kiddos how to write to pass an exam, not necessarily to express themselves. The Austin Bat Cave hopes to augment their efforts through free after-school tutoring programs, in-school programs, book groups and special workshops that include music and songwriting. If anyone could get behind fostering expressive and creative writing in our youth, it would have been Van Zandt, who believed that achieving greatness required constant practice, that you had to continually try to achieve your best.

Besides the fact that you will be supporting this worthy endeavor that aims to expand the minds of our next local creative class, you should be excited for this benefit simply because you get to watch this film again, if you've already seen it, or for the first time if you haven't. Brown has created a picture of a man that will stick with you, a man whose struggles and triumphs will haunt your heart, and whose music will melt it. It is truly one of the more heartbreaking biopics that we have ever seen, but it is also a beautiful tribute that shouldn't be missed.