James McMurtry has been hailed as one of America's greatest living songwriters by Rolling Stone magazine, and most of his albums have been met with wide critical acclaim.
His 1989 debut, “Too Long In The Wasteland,” was produced by John Mellencamp and ushered in a string of albums which demonstrated his mastery of songwriting, including “Where’d You Hide The Body” (1995) and “Childish Things” (2005). Over the past decade, he has released what some consider to be his best work to date, “Complicated Game” (2015), “The Horses and The Hounds” (2021) and “The Black Dog and The Wandering Boy” (2025).
Despite the accolades he’s garnered across his career, he says his writing is often slow compared to other writers and that most often the looming deadline of recording sessions are what inspire him to finish songs. When he started releasing music, he says, the intention was to tour in support of a new album. Today, it’s more often a case of making an album to remind people that he’ll be on the road and coming to their town.
Live performance, he notes, has been a place he’s really thrived. And if he’s a master of creating songs, his gifts in the former arena are equally prodigious. A McMurtry live show isn’t about frills, but instead about creating a sense of community in the space of few hours with little distance between the performers and the audience.
For his return to Wave this Sunday, Aug. 9, he brings his backing band, dubbed The Martial Law Review, along with frequent opener and bandmate, BettySoo, an equally gifted performer whose sets are filled with powerful storytelling and humor.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Back when you started playing live shows, did you know what you wanted to do as a performer, or was it more a case of, “I’m going to go out, play some songs, I hope they like it”?
Pretty much. When I started out playing live, I wasn’t a songwriter yet. I was a student in Tucson and I’d get these beer garden gigs where you’d play for $10 and free beer. I’d play the most obscure covers I could think of so that I wasn’t just another guy playing Jimmy Buffett. You had to know a couple of Buffett covers, too, because that way the food and beverage guy would hire you. They wanted to hear something familiar. I learned the live show before I learned to write songs, really.
At that time, when you’d see someone perform, were you taking notes?
I don’t think I thought it out that far. I just wanted to get up there with a guitar and do it. I was pretty much strictly solo for a long time. I didn’t really start messing with bands until I already had that first record out [“Too Long In The Wasteland,” 1989] and I had to have a band so I could open for other bands. I was a terrible bandleader initially. But I got a little bit better.
I would say so, because you’ve kept your band together for quite some time.
I don’t know that I kept them together. For some reason they stayed around. [Laughs.] It’s like that line in “Convoy” where Ali MacGraw tells [Kris] Kristofferson, “These truckers are all following you.” He says, “They’re not following me, I’m just in front.” [Laughs.]
[Laughs.]
So I don’t know. You’d have to ask them why.
Your most recent album, “The Black Dog and The Wandering Boy,” has been out for about a year. You’ve been able to play some of those songs live. Is there a song or a few songs that people really seem to have latched onto from that album?
They seem to react to “Sailing Away.” That seems to be the one off this record. We do it at most shows, but sometimes the set flow doesn’t allow for it. The one of “The Horses and The Hounds,” “Canola Fields,” is one they really latched onto.
When you’re writing a song, do you ever have a sense of what’s going to connect with people, or is that kind of a mystery to you?
Some people probably do. They are people that know how to write hit songs. I don’t. I just hear a couple lines and a melody in my head and I follow it and see where it goes. But I don’t really have a sense of what’s popular, because I never popular as a kid, particularly.
