{"id":4454,"date":"2012-11-01T23:01:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T04:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=4454"},"modified":"2014-01-16T12:17:21","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T17:17:21","slug":"tlv-interview-james-mcmurtry-by-sarah-reddick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/tlv-interview-james-mcmurtry-by-sarah-reddick\/","title":{"rendered":"TLV interview: James McMurtry by Sarah Reddick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local Voice<\/em> Senior Writer Sarah Reddick<\/strong> recently set out to find James McMurty<\/strong>,the admirable songwriter. Mr. McMurtry managed to find our signal in rural Mississippi recently so he could tell a few things, and not tell a few others. Download The Local Voice #167 Full Color PDF here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How many days would you say you average on the road each year?<\/strong> About a hundred and fifty traveling dates, plus regular weekly gigs and local weekends when we\u2019re home.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the wildest thing that\u2019s happened on tour this year?<\/strong> Ain\u2019t tellin\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who were some of your early musical influences?<\/strong> Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Little Feat<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you heard any new music lately that\u2019s impressed you? John Fullbright, young song writer from Oklahoma. And I really like what I\u2019ve heard of that rap\/rock fusion thing the Black Keys just put out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen King said you \u201cmay be the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation.\u201d He also said <\/strong>your song \u201cTalking at the Texaco\u201d was an inspiration for one of his more recent novels, Under the Dome. Are you a fan of his?<\/strong> I\u2019ve never read his work.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing you\u2019ve read recently?<\/strong> Patti Smith\u2019s autobiography Just Kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your song \u201cRachel\u2019s Song\u201d is one of my favorites. Can you tell me a little bit about where that story came from?<\/strong> I was probably twelve years old and riding in the back of someone\u2019s Country Squire wagon. I looked out the window and saw a light dusting of snow on top of the coal on an east bound train coming out of the tunnel by the bridge at Point of Rocks Maryland. I knew the weather came from the west so I hoped to get out of school the next day, but it didn\u2019t happen. That was the seed for the song. Years later, a friend of mine rolled an El Camino in North Texas and walked away from it to avoid a DUI. I used that element too. I\u2019m not sure where the character, Rachel, came from.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your writing process like? Do you have a routine?<\/strong> I get two lines and a melody. If they\u2019re cool enough to keep me up at night, I\u2019ll finish the song.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe Can\u2019t Make It Here\u201d brought you into the political arena as a songwriter. How do you feel about the state of the country heading into election season?<\/strong> We\u2019ve lost our minds and both parties like it that way. Corporations are in charge now. They aim to keep us all barefoot and pregnant so we work for any wage. I\u2019ll still vote for Obama, because I can now purchase health insurance despite my pre-existing conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hear you like to hunt. What season do you prefer, and why?<\/strong> I hunt whitetail deer in the winter. A young doe makes my favorite meat. Every hunt is an education. I like spring turkey hunting for the adrenalin rush one gets when a gobbler answers one\u2019s call.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you working on any new projects currently? What\u2019s next?<\/strong> Scraping the songs together to go in the studio with the band. C.C. Adcock says he\u2019ll produce.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Sarah Reddick’s
\nJames McMurtry interview is from
\nThe Local Voice<\/em> #166: <\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/center>
<\/center>
Download the
\nFull Color PDF here<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/center><\/td>\n
\"The<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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