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When Heartworn Highways finally received a theatrical release in 1981, it was already wrapped in an underground mythos. James Szalapski’s musical documentary, recorded in the brief span at the end of 1975 and beginning 1976, circulated by VHS like bootleg mixtape, which fit the film’s own mysterious and raw quality. On its surface, Szalapski’s film is simply a document of a moment in country music, rolling passively through seemingly haphazard scenes with outsider artists emerging in the wake of the new outlaw sound. His camera follows David Allan Coe rumbling down the highway from Dallas to a gig at the Tennessee State Prison; Townes Van Zandt goofing around his Austin homestead; Guy Clark philosophizing as he repairs a guitar; and somewhat random studio sessions from Larry Jon Wilson and Barefoot Jerry. Charlie Daniels anchors the 90 minutes with a blowout show in a small high school gymnasium. ....