Those who know me best know that for 30 + years, James McMurtry has been my guy, too. McMurtry hasn't found the fame that Tom Petty did - not even close and, really, who has. He's not as prolific as Tom Petty. Again, who is? Still, for more than three decades, he's dropped an album every four or five years and I've absolutely loved every one of them.
From Too Long in the Wasteland (1989) to the most recent album, The Horses and the Hounds (2021), and all of the albums in between, it's been a helluva ride with great music playing the entire trip.
Why James McMurtry? I've wondered that myself. He's an incredible songwriter to begin with, and I love that, of course. His ability to turn a phrase is reminiscent of John Hiatt (whom I spoke to at a wedding last weekend) and John Prine, two of my other favorites. His songs are like short stories that rhyme, told in four to five minute vignettes. Often times, McMurtry grabs me with the very first line of a song.
McMurtry flies under the radar, too. Something about that appeals to me. He's never going to write a pop song and that makes him different from Tom Petty. What he is going to do, though, is write beautiful, lyrical songs about people struggling to survive in a world that can be harsh and cruel. Those aren't often happy and uplifting songs, either. What they are though - to me, anyway - is real. Very, very real.
Like so may of my other favorites, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Hiatt, Prine, etc. - McMurtry doesn't have a classically appealing singing voice. What he sings about is much more important to me than how he sings it. That's true for those other artists, as well. I place the emphasis on songwriter when I use the phrase singer/songwriter. Always have.
I can't remember how I found McMurtry. My friend, Todd Blankenbecler, got into him around the same time, right after college. I'm a huge fan of McMurtry's father, Larry McMurtry, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winner, Lonesome Dover (my 2nd all time favorite book) and many others. I've always been fascinated by the talent in those two men, father and son, similar but different. My guess is shortly after college, I learned that Larry McMurtry had a son who was a musician and I sought him out. That's only a guess, though.
I saw McMurtry last Sunday night at 3rd & Lindsley, a small, old school Nashville music venue. As another fan said to me that night at the show, "it's a good room." There used to be a lot of good "rooms" where live music - rock and roll - was played in Nashville - 328 Performance Hall, the Playroom at 12th and Porter, the Cannery, Mercy Lounge - they're all gone now, except for 3rd & Lindsley.
I was first in line for the show when I arrived at 4:30 p.m. (doors opened at 5:30 p.m.). I could hear McMurtry and the band playing inside during the sound check as I sat on the concrete bench in front of the entrance, reading The New Yorker. I chatted up a few other fans while I waited, a couple of whom had been to Saturday night's show, as well. I gave away my tickets to the Saturday night show because I had to attend a wedding in Knoxville.
When the doors opened and I walked in ahead of everyone else, I felt like I was home. Again. Although I was surprised to see that most of the tables in front of the stage were reserved - that's a new 3rd & Lindsley policy that allows them to make a little extra money, which is cool - I still got a table near the stage, slightly elevated, with a perfect view.
Jude joined me and we had dinner, which was cool, since we don't get many nights out. The opener, Betty Sue, was fantastic. She reminded me of Maria McKee, actually.
McMurtry, of course, was fantastic. I don't think I stopped smiling the entire show. When he played an acoustic, no microphone version of Blackberry Winter, I was mesmerized. His performance of that song along remind me of why live music is so special. It's a memory I'll treasure forever, watching him walk around the stage, no band, playing the acoustic guitar and signing to the crowd, all of leaning forward slightly to take in every word of the song.
I'm so glad I got to see James McMurtry again. Being at the show made me feel happy to be alive. That's no small thing in this day and age.
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