MUSICAL TURN
Singer-songwriter McMurtry shifts focus from political to personal
James McMurtry is accustomed to life on the road.
It’s something he’s done for decades.
Yet for the past five years or so, McMurtry has found himself on tour almost nonstop.
“That’s where all the money comes from,” he says during a recent phone interview. “There aren’t enough music sales to sustain my life. So I’ve been on the road.”
While McMurtry is on the road, he takes advantage of the downtime to write material for future albums.
“I start songs on the road,” he says “I jot them down on the iPhone and then play with them when I’m off tour.”
McMurtry has built a career with his storytelling through music.
His 2015 album “Complicated Game” was his first in six years.
“The lyrical theme is mostly about relationships,” McMurtry says. “It’s also a little about the big old world versus the poor little farmer or fisherman. I never make a conscious decision about what to write about.”
Moving forward from “Complicated Game,” McMurtry has a scrap pile of tidbits of songs.
“It’s all on a hard drive,” he says. “I scroll through lyrics, and I try some verses that fit the rhyme or meter scheme and make a song.”
Looking back through the pile of songs, McMurtry says, there are ideas that he completely forgot about.
“Then suddenly they make sense,” he says. “Those are the biggest surprises. It all comes full circle in that way.”
Because McMurtry is on the road almost constantly, he’s also become a pro at booking his own tours.
“I have to book everything on my own,” he says. “We’re booking tours at least eight months in advance. That’s the new reality. If you wait too long to figure out a tour, then you fall behind.”