James McMurtry at the Granada Theater (Saturday, Feb 22, 2025)
James McMurtry & BettySoo
My buddy and I went to see James McMurtry at the Granada Theater in Dallas. Having seen McMurtry several times before, I was eager to see him again. His last album, 2021's "The Horses and the Hounds", is a terrific collection of songs that were lodged in the lockdown transom and deserve a fair outing. Song for song, it's his best work. I tried to describe James McMurtry's music to my wife's Aggie friend. To get to the point, I described him as a "more severe Robert Earl Keen", he of "The Road Goes on Forever" fame and fellow Aggie.
My buddy laughed at that and reminded me that Robert Earl Keen had a big hit with his cover of James McMurtry's "Levelland". 'Pride of man'! He described him as "a countryfied Lou Reed". Not bad.
McMurtry's between-song banter was limited to a few asides. He gave a nod to community radio station KNON 89.3 for their long support of his music. (That nod had me putting 89.3 back on my car's preset stations.) The setlist was sprinkled with a few new songs that I didn't recognize. He made mention of the new record that he's been working on. (with legendary producer Don Dixon of R.E.M. & John Mellencamp fame). McMurtry played some of my favorites: "Vaquero", "Canola Fields" "Blackberry Winter", "You Got to Me", "Levelland", "These Things I've Come To Know". "Choctaw Bingo" got its usual big response. "He never got to the chorus on that one!" I joked.
McMurtry stepped out in front of the monitors and played "Blackberry Winter" solo acoustic and completely un-miked about halfway through the set. A hush enveloped the chatty Saturday-night date crowd. What a genius way to re-focus the audience on the music without nagging or finger-wagging. The unplugged song reset the show and harkened back to troubadour busking days. Even though a full-band version of this great tune would've rocked, the melody stands on its own. Unaided by microphones and amps, McMurtry belted out the song to the crowd that included former Cowboys' backup quarterbacks Babe Laufenberg and Jason Garrett.
The opener, BettySoo, whose acoustic set had us early-to-the-show and reveling in the depth of her "bummer jams" and between-song self-effacing banter. She brought James and his *mallet-wielding drummer out late in her set for the last couple of beautifully sung ballads about disappointing relationships and juxtaposed life circumstances. (The mallet drum work was a nice trick that made up for the lack of bassist with a rounded drum sound that emphasized the beat while providing a certain bounce to the proceedings.)
James McMurtry Setlist Granada Theater Feb 22, 2025 Dallas, TX
Fuller Brush Man
Childish Things
The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
Copper Canteen
You Got to Me
Choctaw Bingo
Blackberry Winter
Color of Night
Canola Fields
Vaquero
No More Buffalo
Ft. Walton Wake-Up Call
If It Don't Bleed
Operation Never Mind
Levelland
Too Long in the Wasteland
Encore:
These Things I've Come to Know
Henry and Me
Down to Goodbye
One Thing
100 Different Ways of Being Alone
Don't Say It's Nothing
Never Knew No Love
*Gulf Road
*Blackout
*w/ James McMurtry & drummer Daren Hess (Poi Dog Pondering)
