SXSW Review: For The Sake of The Song: The Story of Anderson Fair

The documentary For The Sake of The Song: The Story of Anderson Fair tells the tale of Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant, the renowned Houston more-charity-than-business venue that has anchored the Texas singer/songwriter circuit for decades. Beloved Texas musicians from Lyle Lovett to Townes Van Zandt have honed their craft on its stage -- which, in its earliest days, was more cleared corner than actual stage.

The film opens with a shot of the Anderson Fair sign being ripped off the face of the building. That bit of dramatic tension creates some misdirected expectations. The film really is about capturing a moment in time, when Anderson Fair became the home base for Texas' most revered folk singers. The story is told through interviews with both musicians and staff, with many musical performances interspersed.

The movie will be a treat to fans. The production is beautiful and the sound is lovingly produced. Numerous performances are complemented by an original soundtrack from Austinite Gurf Morlix. Even the archival footage was crisp and clear on the Paramount big screen (and sound system).

As for non-fans, the movie is harder to recommend. The movie lacks a narrative to tie the segments together, and doesn't connect events to the world beyond the Montrose section of Houston. Context is important, especially to those of us in Austin who are dismally upset at the impending loss of the local Cactus Cafe. (A brief mention of the Cactus raised stirring applause from the Paramount audience.)

I watched For the Sake of the Song with Jette, who is less connected to Texas music than I am, but enjoyed it nonetheless. "It's more a canonization than a documentary," she said, and I think that describes it to a T. The story is told in glowing, rosy tones that at times stretch credulity. For instance, when one musician says that Townes Van Zandt always put on a good show at Anderson Fair, I found that hard to believe. Van Zandt was a brilliant but troubled person, and the stories of his erratic performances are legend.

Given the limited accessibility to non-fans and the enormous logistics in acquiring licensing rights for all the music (25 musicians are credited!), I'm having trouble envisioning how this film will find a path to distribution. If you're a fan, make a special effort to see this movie while it's on the film-festival circuit. It's like a classic show at the Kerrville Folk Festival, except without the blazing heat and bugs.

Austin Connection: The music and musicians of this film are beloved to Austin, and represent one axis of the historic Austin music scene. Some of the musicians, such as Slaid Cleaves and Gurf Morlix, currently live in Austin.

For The Sake Of The Song: The Story of Anderson Fair plays SXSW one more time -- Fri. 3/19 at 8 pm at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz.