James McMurtry

Looking around at the people packed into the Bluebird Theater on Friday night, I realized my wife and I fell somewhere between the generation McMurtry was singing about and the children who ‘don’t know what that means’. Relative youth to those surrounding us didn’t lessen the sting of those words though. Growing up easier than our parents doesn’t guarantee a good night’s sleep, especially in the world we are living in today, so the occasional thrill of catching a good whiskey buzz while singing and dancing along to poetry about the human condition isn’t an age specific activity.

McMurtry doesn’t shy away from politics when addressing the woes of the average working American (the police officer posted in front of the venue the entire night was just another reminder of the current dangers we face as a society), but he doesn’t let the message stifle the high spirits of his audience. Backed by a rowdy, but extraordinary bar band consisting of guitarist/accordion player Tim Holt, drummer Daren Hess, and bassist Cornbread, McMurtry led the Denver faithful through a two-hour, career-spanning set of stories that gave tribute to the world outside, while simultaneously making us forget about it.

McMurtry and his band took the stage around 10:00pm, after an engaging, sometimes humorous, acoustic set by Max Gomez. A few kinks in the sound and some microphone issues were worked out by the time “Red Dress” came to a close — giving way to a fine performance of “Just Us Kids”. Sporting a fresh haircut (gone were his signature curls), groomed goatee, and his usual panama hat, the man of the hour introduced “How’m I Gonna Find You Now” as “the one that was supposed to be my first big radio hit”, before admitting he’d had “a bunch of those ‘supposed to be’ hits” along the way.

An extended run of new material followed, proving the man is still at the top of his game (and maybe better than ever) after close to thirty years on the road. The wry smile he wore on his face revealed his sarcasm to be secondary to his love of being on the stage. “I wrote this one in the R Bar in New Orleans, where I was just the perfect amount of drunk and pissed off that I could write a song…’course I had to it write fast.” “I Ain’t Got No Place” was the song he was referring to.

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Wednesday 8th February. The Garage. James McMurtry. It’s been over seven years since McMurtry last graced these shores. That night it was a solo show at the Borderline. Tonight it’s a full band. The gig has been upgraded from the way too small but great venue of the Lexington to the Garage tonight.

McMurtry is a singer songwriter from Texas whose dry self-deprecating wit and storytelling songs are his trademarks. And he doesn’t disappoint with either tonight.

It’s a best off set tonight with no album to promote although there are a few from his last the excellent ‘Complicated Game’ came out a couple of years ago now. An understated guitarist but he sure can play and his backing are really tight tonight powering through the tracks.

McMurtry’s voice is reminiscent of Dylan but much better and most songs are full of wonderful stories that take you away on a musical journey.

With such an impressive back catalogue picking a highlight is tricky but ‘Just us Kids’ and ‘You got to me’ stand out for me. Requests are quickly shut down with the ‘you know what you want me to play but you don’t know what I’m going to play’.

Time flies for the nearly two hour set running way over the curfew. Let’s hope it’s not another seven years before he graces these shores again.

A great night and keep on rockin y’all

It’s evident from the way that he masters the guitar that James McMurty has been playing since he was a child. The Texan singer/songwriter gave a solid and exciting performance of his rock and roll and folk music along with his talented band members. As soon as he took to the stage, after a very brief hello, he launched into Freeway View accompanied by this full band, and with the addition of backing vocals, filling out the sound. Although there weren’t many people at the show, the atmosphere was great, McMurtry took tome to engage with us in the crowd, and give us little explanations of the origins of his songs and reveal the motivations of their narratives. It was really special to hear such in depth analysis from the artist himself, and in my opinion one of the best songwriters living at the moment.
He played through Just Us Kids chronologically, and it was awesome to hear it live, as I’ve listened to the recording over and over again. Towards the end of the set, he revealed that he has an album in the pipeline called Complicated Game, and played us a track from their as a preview. It was incredibly exciting to hear the music before it’s released. The show was everything I was hoping for and more, I’d definitely see him live if you get the chance.

Before last night's concert, I could not have imagined liking James McMurtry eve better as a solo act than when he is accompanied by his band, but that's exactly how I'm feeling right now. Maybe it was because I could hear him singing his incredible lyrics better in this acoustic setting than I could with his band playing. Maybe I could hear his unusual guitar tunings better. Maybe he felt more "at home" in Fort Worth with a wildly appreciative audience than he can when he's performing in certain other cities. All I know is, he is the virtual definition of authenticity without any false fanfare most musicians use to make their audiences happy and his performance last night at The W.E. Scott Theater in Fort Worth will never be forgotten. I uploaded three of the videos I recorded at the concert to my Facebook timeline, and after listening to these and other repeatedly, I went to his webpage and bought a few more of his cds today. The truth in his music continues to echo in my brain.

James was wonderful. He sang all his great songs, with the mesmerizing lyrics.

There was not a sell out crowd, but it was a nice venue.

The only down side was that the theater was so hot it was miserable! Grand Junction is a hot place and it requires air conditioning, not a swamp cooler.

James was great as always. He sprinkled his hits with his new material and worked the crowd very well. He started with a sparse audience, and when he was finished he had a tightly packed dancing crowd in front of the stage. I was able to speak to him afterwards and got a picture with him.

Fabulous show; McMurtry picked up where Bob Dylan left off; However JAMES McMurtry’s lyrics are more insightful interesting and intelligent. McMurtry also is an excellent guitarist. He interacts so well with the audience. He is a superb performer in so many ways.

It was absolutely great! I would see him again. Most amazing Songwriter, guitarist & performer. Thank you, Mr McMurtry & son plus cellist.
The Kessler is most intimate setting, with all seats offering an great view to the artist on stage.

Support great and the man himself absolutely outstanding. Every time you see him perform you think it was the best and then when you next see him, he is even better.
so very talented and such a droll sense of humour. Terrific!

awesome show as I knew ut would be. Finally got to see him perform. Finsished the show by singing a song with no microphone and no band just him and his guitar with no amp. Also Max Gomez openened and he will be a star.