James McMurtry

The son of one of America's most celebrated novelists, James McMurtry followed the family's tradition: he's a master storyteller who relates his tales in verse and music. Part of the Texas singer/songwriter community, McMurtry has a gift for character studies, documenting lives not in perfect balance, and offering political commentary on how the choices of the powerful impact the lives of ordinary folks. McMurtry's vocals are dour and plainspoken, but give eloquent voice to the lives of his protagonists, and his artfully unadorned lyrics are often full of warmth and humanity, even in narratives full of chaos. McMurtry made a celebrated debut with 1989's Too Long in the Wasteland, he hit a creative stride with 2005's Childish Things and 2008's Just Us Kids, and on 2021's The Horses and the Hounds, the performances and production were every bit as compelling as McMurtry's songs.

James McMurtry was born in Fort Worth, Texas on March 18, 1962. His father was Larry McMurtry, a best-selling novelist of the Lone Star State whose works included The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, and The Evening Star. When James was seven years old, his parents divorced, and he spent most of his childhood in Leesburg, Virginia. He attended a boarding school in Orange, Virginia, where he started to teach himself to write songs. By the time he was in college, he was playing gigs at local clubs. After living in Alaska for a while, McMurtry returned to Texas, where he supported himself with a variety of odd jobs while he continued writing music. In 1987, on the advice of a friend, McMurtry entered the annual songwriting competition at Texas's Kerrville Folk Festival, where he became a finalist. Meanwhile, Larry McMurtry had written a screenplay, Falling From Grace, that was going to be made into a film by musician turned filmmaker John Mellencamp. Larry passed a tape of his son's songs to Mellencamp, who was impressed enough to offer to produce an album for James. McMurtry took the offer, and Too Long in the Wasteland was released in 1989, after James landed a deal with Columbia Records. (James also landed a small role in the TV adaptation of Lonesome Dove, playing Jimmy Rainey.) McMurtry also contributed to the Falling from Grace soundtrack as a member of the ad hoc supergroup the Buzzin' Cousins, which also featured Mellencamp, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and Joe Ely.