Review/Photos: James McMurtry
Opener: Betty Soo | The Birchmere, 9/7/2024
James McMurtry is a master — at storytelling, as a songwriter, and as a musician.
All three were in abundant evidence during his annual late summer/early fall tour of the East Coast, where he performed a series of dates with fellow Austin musician and collaborator Betty Soo.
Performing at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., almost a year to the day he played at the intimate venue with Soo the previous year, McMurtry put on a storytelling clinic, showcasing songs from his long career and giving the audience a preview from a forthcoming album produced by Don Dixon.
McMurtry has been a constant and acclaimed songwriting presence in the music business since the late 1980s, but his recorded output has consisted of only two albums (2015’s “Complicated Game” and 2021’s “The Horses and the Hounds”) since 2008. “We recorded several songs in May, but there’s no such thing as a release date until it happens,” he said of the Dixon sessions.
But with the success of “The Horses and the Hounds,” things could be changing. Having seen McMurtry a dozen times over the years in various venues, both solo and with his band, this was the loosest he’s been on stage. And his guitar work, one thing that distinguishes him from so many solo acts, has never been better.
He joined Soo on stage for the last three songs of her opening set, accompanying her on guitar on “Henry and Me” and “Blackout” as well as a cover of his “Gulf Road.” And he brought Soo back to the stage to play with him on the new song, “Sons of the Second Sons,” a scathing rebuke of “modern redneck culture, or the lack thereof.”
He reused a few lines from previous shows, calling 1995’s “Levelland” one of the “Robert Earl Keen songs that I wrote” and referencing Townes Van Zandt prior to performing a “medley of my hit” — 2002’s “Choctaw Bingo.” He explained at least part of the inspiration for the latter song, an eight-minute epic that showcases all of McMurtry’s mastered skills.
“My great-grandfather was a Methodist minister, and he was the vainest person my father ever knew,” he said.
His father, of course, was Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning writer who died in 2021. According to James, Larry became so disgusted by the minister’s vanity and piety that he wrote a letter to the Methodist Church rescinding his membership.
“Most people don’t do that. They just walk away,” he said. “That letter’s probably up now on eBay.”
The stories continued throughout the evening. Since his first album, 1989’s “Too Long in the Wasteland,” McMurtry has chronicled his feelings as a nomad, and he introduced “I Ain’t Got A Place” from “Complicated Game” with a story about the song’s development.
“I wrote this down in New Orleans,” McMurtry said. “I was just the right amount of drunk and pissed off. If you get that combination right, you can write a pretty good song, or you can get your ass kicked. Fortunately I was alone.”
Fortunately for those in the sold-out crowd, he wasn’t alone last Saturday night. He was putting on a clinic, showcasing some of the best songwriting you can find today.
Opener: Betty Soo
Great stuff!
Texas Latin Records (and pinatas)! Wow, what a lead-off that made me giggle to find it is NOT where I thought it would be. Then, the anticipation of identifying the black & white as the Merchandise Mart was satisfied. City roads and country roads all to yourself ~ a couple of nice scenes. Nice, nice, nice!