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2-22-05, 10:43 am
James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards
Sunday, Feb 20, '05
Brooklyn, NY
Venue: Southpaw
After opening for a rock back that they never heard of, the previous night in Philadelphia, multi-guitarist James McMurtry and his backup band, the Heartless Bastards, with another guitarist and drummer, started their set at a new music venue in Brooklyn, SouthPaw.
The name McMurtry may sound familiar. Yes, for book readers among you, he is the son of renowned novelist Larry McMurtry the author of Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment and other slice of life stories about most Texans and many other people in this country. Well, after reading most of his novels, hearing his son, it is like experiencing the same stories, but this time in country rock form. This must be a very proud father.
Midway through his set he asked the audience to go home and find his website, Jamesmcmurtry.com, and listen to his newest song: "We Can't Make it Here." McMurtry quickly added that he is totally opposed to downloading music off the Internet, but in this case, the song, which is on his new album, will not be out for a while. After listening to the song, you can see why the urgency.
"We Can't Make it Here," is a truly amazing song. Here is a song for all of us who came out of last year a little down and lacking in enthusiasm. It is a song that crosses every t and dots every i. It is a song that defends veterans, workers, poor people, lost young women and attacks the CEOs and the President who thinks people can make a living on the minimum wage. It is economic and political perfection without being journalistic and boring.
His latest album, Live in Aught-Three, is a compilation of live performances, which documents his best work in the past period. As you can imagine, he writes his own songs and produces his own records. Compadre Records is the company he uses. Tim Holt is the front house music expert who made the amplification and voices a great experience. On this CD, McMurtry includes some of his remarks to the audience. His comments in regard to President Bush, are particularly important.
Buy this CD, listen and download "We Can't Make it Here" from the McMurtry website, buy his new CD when its released; and be sure to check you local music venue to see if he is appearing. Don't miss him.
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