Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine

Collins debuts with a finely tuned tale of artistic ambition and cultural shifts in the 1970s Texas music scene. Married Austin bar owners Deanna and Wendell hire up-and-coming singer-songwriter Doug Moser to lead the house band at their Rush Creek Saloon, hoping to drum up business. Doug, along with his wife and son, move into a house on the bar’s property, and soon the Rush Creek is buzzing with a hip new clientele. Not all is hunky-dory, though. Regulars lose their barstools to hippies, an odd loner named Steven starts hanging around the band, Deanna stifles budding feelings for Doug, and Wendell sees his usefulness to the Rush Creek diminish (“This is my bar, Doug, ain’t it?” he angrily asks at one point). Collins mostly focuses on Doug’s and Deanna’s points of view, and she keenly captures their individual desires: Doug seeks fame and purpose, while Deanna wants a disruption from life’s routine. Though the narrative loses steam by its tragic final act, which turns on a gnarly rainstorm, Collins brilliantly conveys the nitty-gritty details of a working musician’s day-to-day. Music lovers will especially dig this. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Mar.)