I was driving to work or back home in St. Louis one day in the late 1980s and heard James McMurtry on a station there. I set my radio to that station and for a while I heard him almost everyday. At the end of 1990 I moved away and no longer heard him, I had forgotten about him until he popped up on my RU-vid feed about 12 years ago. I have not heard him on commercial radio since leaving St. Louis in late 1990. He has so many great songs, "Long Island Sound" is one of his and "Lights of Cheyenne" are two of my favorites that he didn't do here but "Deckhand's Daughter" and "Childish Things" are another two. Oh well he can't do all the ones I love, it would take more than an hour, in fact most of the day.
Someone in a satirical Usenet group uploaded Choctaw Bingo. I listened and enjoyed and promptly forgot about it. Years later, James was featured on an NPR show and I heard it again. I went home and looked him up and have been a fan ever since. (around the same time Hayes Carll was also featured on that radio show. Between the two, I became enamored of this music genre)
We are the McMurrys We had the huge honor of being mistaken for James`s family at his show in a small club in our small town Our son`s band were regulars there. I smiled and said "sadly no". "My heart still smiles and says "Oh yes, cousin James"
Thank you Tyler ,I'm caught up to this one from 1st & as long as James feels like making one,I sure have no issue with watching them. I feel redundant & a geeked out fan,but i am,in some regards,as a fan & fellow musician,so no point in telling you what an all around beautiful bad ass bleessing of a man i think are Sir. If I had to use one word to describe this video & content ? Yes,I could have.Healing. Thank you both & all.Hang tuff & maybe we can make it here still.
Met him in Philly, post show at Jonny Brenda's. He was surprised that I had lived in Elkhart, Kansas, but midway between Guymon and Boise City, Oklahoma.
He said the coronavirus shut down the production, for whatever reason. He's played a bunch of the songs in these streams and they're all really good, if that is encouraging. When they will actually be out as an "album" I don't know. The small labels are really struggling.