Like his dad Larry, singer-songwriter
James McMurtry knows characters. But unlike his novelist father – who penned
The Last Picture Show and
Lonesome Dove, and wrote
Brokeback Mountain’s screenplay – the guys and gals who populate James’ work don’t even bother looking for a way out. They’re already down for the count, thanks to an America that’s passed them by.
On McMurtry’s latest CD,
Just Us Kids, he tells the tales of folks who’ve been hit hard by Bush’s non-recession. They smoke too much, they drink too much, and they pretty much just get on with their lives the best they know how. And often, there’s little hope outside the bars, trailers, and factories in which they spend the majority of their time …
This article appears in May 7-13, 2008.
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