http://do512.com/band/james-mcmurtry http://do512.com/band/james-mcmurtry.xml <strong>James L. McMurtry</strong>, along with his Austin-based band, <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/James%2BMcMurtry%2B%2526%2BThe%2BHeartless%2BBastards" class="bbcode_artist">James McMurtry &amp; The Heartless Bastards</a>, is a self-described &quot;rock &amp; roots&quot; guitarist and singer-songwriter, drawing on elements of <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/alt-country" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">alt-country</a>, <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/folk" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">folk</a> and old-fashioned <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/texas" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">texas</a> <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/rock" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">rock</a>. The son of novelist Larry McMurtry, James was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1962, and grew up in Virginia. James McMurtry's seventh studio album, <strong><a title="James McMurtry - Childish Things" href="http://www.last.fm/music/James+McMurtry/Childish+Things" class="bbcode_album">Childish Things</a></strong>, was released on Compadre Records in the fall of 2005. As writer L.E.Brady notes, &quot;The album includes McMurtry's statement on American decline - <em><a title="James McMurtry &ndash; We Can't Make It Here" href="http://www.last.fm/music/James+McMurtry/_/We+Can%27t+Make+It+Here" class="bbcode_track">We Can't Make It Here</a></em> - his most unabashedly political number yet.&quot; <strong><a title="James McMurtry - Just Us Kids" href="http://www.last.fm/music/James+McMurtry/Just+Us+Kids" class="bbcode_album">Just Us Kids</a></strong>— released in 2008, is McMurtry’s ninth full-length album. While he insists that “the majority of the songs are not political,” it’s also clear that he’s not even close to abandoning his burgeoning role as a searing political gadfly. The core band throughout is McMurtry on guitar, his longtime road band The Heartless Bastards (bassist Ronnie Johnson and drummer Daren Hess) and “guest Bastard” Ian McLagan (The Faces) on keys. So, roll over Kate Smith — this “God Bless America (pat mAcdonald Must Die)” bears no resemblance to the ubiquitous Irving Berlin chest-thumper; it’s a scorched-earth cataloging of the old-boys’ club glad-handing, cronyism and “belly up to the trough” feeding-frenzy of corporate and state war profiteers. “Cheney’s Toy” juxtaposes the Hollywood hubris of the Bush administration against images of Guantanamo and a brain-damaged U.S. veteran. “The Governor” probes the roles of class and wealth in the solving and prosecution of crimes, and “Ruins of the Realm” sorts through the fallout and detritus of a cynical, unilateral approach to global “mapping.” “Ruby and Carlos” looks at a relationship eroded by miscommunication and conflicting ambitions (with Gulf War Syndrome further roiling the waters). Ruby and Carlos aren’t doomed by a single fatal flaw; instead, their love is exhausted by a series of minor disconnects, finally dying the death of a thousand cuts. “Fire Line Road” looks at incest and meth addiction as the normal, everyday, ghastly horrors that they are — exposing some of the ugliest dirt we've always swept under our societal rug. “Freeway View” is a honking, breakaway rock ’n’ roller propelled by Ian McLagan’s dazzling ivory-tickling while, according to James, the Dylanesque “Hurricane Party” inhabits “an old man cussing himself for what he misses and what he missed, occasionally noticing what’s happening now — it’s a reminiscence at the end of the world.” The moving set-closer “You’d a’ Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)” imbues its tale of a couple strained by individual weaknesses and stubborn old habits with a generosity of spirit and wry resignation. McMurtry says the parenthetical tag is there because “the lyrics kinda reminded me of a Cohen song, and I was still writing it while we were supposed to be recording it, and it just went on and on. So when I finally came up with it, I said ‘If it wasn’t for Leonard Cohen, you wouldn’t have had to spend half the day waiting on me.’” <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/James+McMurtry" target="_blank">Listen at Last.fm</a> jamesmcmurtry http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/220932/m_60705669ae7fbbff8538d8534df58199_poster.jpg 19272627 http://www.myspace.com/jamesmcmurtry AUSTIN, Texas ZbWRfBZY-ng 105933 http://do512.com/event/weekly/wed/wednesday-night-the-continental-club-with-jon-dee-graham-and-james-mcmurtry http://do512.com/event/weekly/wed/wednesday-night-the-continental-club-with-jon-dee-graham-and-james-mcmurtry.xml Wednesday 11/11/09 20091112T043000Z/20091112T043000Z false 0 13.0 10:30 PM Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:30:00 -0600 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:30:00 -0600 3 WED 12/30/2009 http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/170160/m_2023a0ff671cd91eb9ee36567f96dda1_sq_90.jpg Continental Club 353 http://do512.com/venue/continental-club http://do512.com/venue/continental-club.xml

1315 S. Congress

Austin TX 78704 continentalclub http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/129285/continental_poster.jpg http://www.continentalclub.com 105627 http://do512.com/event/2009/11/13/james-mcmurtry http://do512.com/event/2009/11/13/james-mcmurtry.xml Friday 11/13/09 20091113T230000Z/20091113T230000Z false 0 0.0 05:00 PM Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0600 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0600 0 FRI http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/220932/m_60705669ae7fbbff8538d8534df58199_sq_90.jpg Waterloo Records 153 http://do512.com/venue/waterloo-records http://do512.com/venue/waterloo-records.xml

600 N. Lamar

Austin TX 78703 waterloorecords http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/129069/1_poster.png http://www.waterloorecords.com 106072 http://do512.com/event/2009/11/21/james-mcmurtry http://do512.com/event/2009/11/21/james-mcmurtry.xml Saturday 11/21/09 20091122T030000Z/20091122T030000Z false 0 0.0 09:00 PM Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:00:00 -0600 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:00:00 -0600 0 SAT http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/220932/m_60705669ae7fbbff8538d8534df58199_sq_90.jpg Threadgill's South World HQ 725 http://do512.com/venue/threadgills-world-headquarters http://do512.com/venue/threadgills-world-headquarters.xml

301 W Riverside Dr

Austin TX 78704 threadgills http://s3.amazonaws.com/do512/photos/129759/threadgills_world_hq_poster.jpg http://www.threadgills.com/