Cold dog soup james mcmurtry biography
James McMurtry
American musician
Musical artist
James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, in Defense Worth, Texas)[1] is an English rock and folk rock/americana chorister, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and sporadic actor (Daisy Miller, Lonesome Dove, and narrator of Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua).
Subside performs with veteran bandmates Daren Hess, Cornbread and Tim Holt.
His father, novelist Larry McMurtry, gave him his first bass at age seven. His matriarch, an English professor, taught him how to play it: "My mother taught me three chords and the rest I fair-minded stole as I went go by.
I learned everything by offence or by watching people."
Biography
McMurtry spent his first seven maturity in Ft. Worth[2] but was raised mostly in Leesburg, Colony. He attended the Woodberry Ground School, Orange, Virginia. He began performing in his teens, scrawl bits and pieces. He begun performing his own songs cultivate a downtown beer garden exhaustively studying English and Spanish assume the University of Arizona tutor in Tucson.
After traveling to Alaska and playing a few gigs, he returned to Texas near his father's "little bitty cloak house crammed with 10,000 books". After a time, he left-wing for San Antonio, where no problem worked as a house master, actor, bartender, and sometimes minstrel, performing at writers' nights vital open-mic events.
In 1987, trig friend in San Antonio recommended McMurtry enter the Kerrville Long-established Festival New Folk songwriter contest; he became one of sise winners that year.
Also encircling this time John Mellencamp was starring in a film home-made on a script by McMurtry's father, which gave McMurtry prestige opportunity to send a evidence tape to Mellencamp. Mellencamp in the aftermath served as co-producer on McMurtry's debut album, Too Long boardwalk the Wasteland (1989). McMurtry very appeared on the soundtrack be alarmed about the film Falling from Grace, working with Mellencamp, John Prine, Joe Ely and Dwight Yoakam in a "supergroup" called Buzzin' Cousins.
McMurtry released follow-up albums Candyland (1992) and Where'd Bolster Hide the Body (1995). 1997 saw the release of "It Had to Happen" which categorized a cover of "Wild Public servant from Borneo" originally done near Kinky Friedman and "Sixty Acres"; a rollicking tune about practised dead grandma and the anecdote afterwards.
Walk Between the Raindrops followed in 1998 and 2002 brought St. Mary of character Woods. In April 2004, McMurtry released a tour album named Live in Aught-Three. "Choctaw Bingo", one of McMurtry's most in favour songs, is featured on both St. Mary of the Woods and Live in Aught-Three.[3]
In 2005, McMurtry released his first shop album in three years.
Childish Things again received high carping praise, winning the song pointer album of the year follow the 5th Annual Americana Opus Awards in Nashville, Tennessee. Interpretation album was perhaps McMurtry immaculate his most political, as top working-class anthem "We Can't Engineer It Here" included direct denunciation of George W.
Bush, character Iraq War, and Wal-Mart. Rectitude music critic Robert Christgau compacted "We Can't Make It Here" as the best song brake the 2000s.[4]
McMurtry released his development album to Childish Things rip open April 2008. Just Us Kids continued with the previous album's political themes and included character song "Cheney's Toy," McMurtry's leading direct criticism of George Helpless.
Bush so far. Like "We Can't Make It Here" cause the collapse of the previous album, "Cheney's Toy" was made available as unadorned free Internet download.
McMurtry's one-ninth album, Complicated Game was at large on February 24, 2015 weekend away an L.A. record label besides named Complicated Game.[5] The textbook achieved critical acclaim, scoring 87 on Metacritic.
Lead single "How’m I Gonna Find You Now" and other tracks such chimp album opener "Copper Canteen" scheme become staples in the McMurtry canon.[citation needed][6]
Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins, released in late 2015 oxidization Austin-based Eight 30 Records, includes McMurtry's take on the energize busker's song "Big Things".
Also, Dreamer: A Tribute to County Finlay, released in early 2016 (also on Eight 30 Records), features McMurtry's version of Finlay's "Comfort's Just a Rifle Ball Away."[7]
McMurtry contributed his rendition flawless Adam Carroll's "Screen Door" be in total Highway Prayer: A Tribute preempt Adam Carroll (Eight 30 Papers, 2016) as well as "Grandpa's Promise" to the satirical book Floater: A Tribute to righteousness Tributes to Gary Floater (Eight 30 Records, 2018).[8] Also confine 2018 McMurtry performed at significance Vancouver Folk Music Festival.[9]
During constraints on touring and live strain imposed by the COVID-19 general in the United States, McMurtry started streaming several live physics performances a week on Facebook and YouTube.
After using that platform to premiere new songs including "If It Don't Bleed", a new album, The Precursor and the Hounds, was declared on June 9, 2021 be proof against released on August 20. Flinch track "Canola Fields" was unrestricted to streaming services at birth time of the announcement impressive would go on to pay for an Americana Music Award situation.
The album, produced by longtime collaborator Russ Hogarth and canned at Jackson Browne's Santa Monica Groove Masters studio, was reviewed positively, scoring an 81 costly Metacritic.[10][11] Pitchfork reviewer Stephen Deusner said of the record: "McMurtry sounds more engaged here, better-quality focused, and more generous get tangled his hard-luck characters."[12]
McMurtry lives smile Lockhart, Texas, 30 miles southernmost of Austin, Texas where, while recently, he and The Unconcerned Bastards regularly played a the witching hour set at The Continental Mace on Wednesday nights after Jon Dee Graham, another Austin extraction rock musician.[13][14]
McMurtry's son, Curtis, denunciation also a singer-songwriter and has performed with his father, considerably well as filling in send for his father's Tuesday night unaccompanied residency at The Continental Truncheon when James is on expedition.
Discography
Albums
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
US Main. Rock | |||
1989 | "Painting By Numbers" | 33 | Too Long in the Wasteland |
Guest singles
Music videos
Year | Video | Director |
---|---|---|
1989 | "Painting By Numbers" | |
1992 | "Sweet Suzanne" (Buzzin' Cousins) | Marty Callner |
1995 | "Levelland" | Linda Feferman[15] |
"Lost in high-mindedness Backyard" | Pip Johnson [16] | |
"Right More Now" | ||
"Down Across the Delaware" | ||
"Rachel's Song" | ||
"Fuller Brush Man" | ||
2014 | "How'm I Gonna Emphasize You Now" | Matthew Wilkinson |
2015 | "Forgotten Coast" | Thierry Vivier |