The film includes interviews of Van Zandt's immediate family and contemporaries such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Guy Clark[1] along with "home movies, old TV performances and, especially, mid-Seventies footage originally filmed by James Szalapski for his outlaw country documentary Heartworn Highways.

[2] The film covers some of Van Zandt's time spent in Houston, Texas, where he began his musical development,[5] though according to the film's DVD commentary, much was excluded from the early years, when he met many of his early influences and lifelong friends (Lightnin' Hopkins, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Mickey Newbury, etc.

), and developed his musical skills in the city's folk and country scene in the late 60s and early 70s.

It first showed in the United States at the Wisconsin Film Festival, then to a limited run of theaters in 2005.

[9] The New York Times said, "Margaret Brown has directed a tender, impressionistic film biography about the Texan singer-songwriter," and The Village Voice called it "loving but frank.