'Back When We Were Crazy' pays tribute to Susanna Clark

Four years after her death, Susanna Clark's life and legacy will be celebrated at the Bluebird Cafe. On Saturday, the famed listening room will host the sold-out program "Back When We Were Crazy: Susanna Clark's Songs and Journals." Clark came to Nashville with her husband Guy in the early 1970s and was an integral part of a vibrant songwriting scene that has been compared to the community of American expat writers in Paris during the 1920s.

The event was organized by Tamara Saviano, a friend of the Clark family and author of the new biography "Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark."

"Guy gets most of the attention and I want Susanna to get equal billing." Saviano wrote in an email. "Susanna was the love of Guy's life and his muse. Without Susanna, it's unlikely Guy would have had his illustrious career as a songwriter." During the show, Saviano will read excepts from Clark's journals. Singer-songwriter Carlene Carter will perform "Easy From Now On," a song she wrote with Clark that was recorded by Emmylou Harris for her 1978 classic LP "Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town" (Clark also painted the album cover).

"I sing 'Easy From Now On" and talk about Susanna at almost every show I do," Carter said. "I loved her deeply ... I thought she had the greatest way of putting things into words. She was just a wild-ass girl. Like I am."

Singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon, a rising Americana star, will sing "We Were Kinda Crazy Then," which Clark wrote and Jerry Jeff Walker recorded. Waldon, Saviano's former intern, transcribed "a good bit of the Guy book and has been a long time fan of Guy, Townes (Van Zandt) and Susanna."

The Bluebird is a fitting venue for this event. In 1995, Susanna Clark asked Van Zandt, Harris, Steve Earle and Guy Clark to play a benefit concert for the Interfaith Dental Clinic; the show was recorded and released as the live album "Together at the Bluebird Cafe."