The son of literary lion Larry McMurtry, James McMurtry hails from Texas, and rarely leaves. If you’re a James McMurtry fan who lives in or around Austin, you might catch 100 gigs a year. If you’re a James McMurtry fan who lives anywhere but in or around Austin, you might catch him once every 100 years. This is fitting, as McMurtry is one of those rare artists whose work is so grounded in a particular region that when he leaves, it’s as though the land he’s invaded has been given a jolt of electroshock therapy.McMurtry is a lanky, hairy Texan who sings the songs you’d expect to hear coming from a lanky, hairy Texan. His voice is deep and quivering, his rhythms rollicking, his guitars fuzzy, his lyrics poignant and textured. He’s a macho man who doesn’t take himself too seriously, and a Yellow Dog Democrat to boot. He makes music for life’s forgotten truck drivers, welders, and mill workers, fighting to hold onto a slice of blue-collar Americana that becomes ever more elusive every day.
On Just Us Kids, James McMurtry follows up his critically acclaimed Childish Things with a dozen new, sharply drawn illuminations as he continues to hone and expand his considerable gifts. And the self-produced opus (James’ fourth venture pulling strings on both sides of the glass) unquestionably represents his most ambitious, accomplished and ass-kicking presentation to date. Just Us Kids will be the first release for Nashville-based Lightning Rod Records; label president Logan Rogers previously worked as Vice President of A&R for Compadre Records on McMurtry’s previous two albums.
LINK: http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com
PRESS: NPR / L.A. Times
MP3/Download: James McMurtry - Ruby And Carlos
MP3/Download: James McMurtry - Hurricane Party
Aladdin Theater
Friday, April 24th, 2009
James McMurtry
Tix: $18/$20 / Time: 8PM
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment