In Dec. 1988, singer-songwriter Blaze Foley played the Austin Outhouse for the last time, an appearance later released as a live album.
His birthday falls this week, too – born Dec. 18, 1949, in Arkansas.
Foley grew up in San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and around the South. He wandered further after dropping out of high school – a drifter, biker, roadie, and songwriter. His songcraft flowered after settling in Georgia, living in a tree house with partner and muse Sybil Rosen.
Foley moved to Austin in 1977, the progressive country boom years, and became a stalwart in spots like Emmajoe’s, Spellman’s Lounge, Hole in the Wall, and the Austin Outhouse. He grew close there to another star-crossed songwriter, Townes Van Zandt.
Their hard-luck drifter ways drew them together, but their lyrical gifts cemented the relationship.
Blaze and Townes could plumb the depths of human despair in one stanza and pivot to absurd silliness in the next. Foley’s craft shone in such songs as “If I Could Only Fly,” “Clay Pigeons,” and “Election Day,” but missed opportunities abounded. In 1984, he recorded an album in Muscle Shoals, but it didn’t see the light of day.
Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Gurf Morlix, and Lucinda Williams covered his songs and sung his praises in later years. Ethan Hawke 
