With a career that spans four decades, Texas born Michael Martin Murphey has covered a lot of ground. Well known for his huge hits like “Carolina in the Pines” and “Wildfire”, Murphey’s songs have also been recorded by artists as diverse as The Monkees, Kenny Rogers, Cher and Lyle Lovett. Once part of the early “Outlaw Country” movement with contemporaries Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson, recent years have seen Murphey returning to his first love, songs inspired by the cowboy way of life and the American West. Murphey will come to Tulsa Wednesday, March 7 as part of his “Lone Cowboy Campfire Tour”. He’ll be performing at the historic and intimate Tulsa Little Theatre.
I caught up with Murphey by phone this week as he was heading to Vail for a show. With such a large body of work to choose from, I wondered what Murphey had in store for his Tulsa fans. “The first half of my show is a retrospective of the ‘best of’ songs I’ve put out all the way back to my first album, Geronimo’s Cadillac,” Murphey told me. “And then the second half is a sampling of music from my cowboy music albums. The first part’s country, and the second part’s western,” he laughed.
A prolific and commercially successful songwriter, Murphey still enjoys the process. “Writing songs is still my favorite thing to do. I still love being a songwriter and, of course, I love performing the songs. But the creative process of writing songs is still what I feel best when I’m doing,” Murphey commented. “When I felt like I needed to constantly be coming up with something, I was disciplined about it, but now I go by inspiration, and I get the inspiration often enough that I don’t have to worry about disciplining myself. I guess at this point I’ve got a process I use to write songs, and I’m learning what tools creatively I need to use. With that in hand, you just wait for the inspiration, and it comes pretty often.” For Murphey, “the best songs come from inspiration. If you’re not inspired, if you’re not dreaming something, then you’re not really writing from the heart, from the soul or from somewhere deep inside your subconscious.”
Murphey has released three bluegrass influenced albums in recent years. “They’re called buckaroo bluegrass,” he explained with a laugh. “It’s basically cowboy music about the West and my life in the West with a bluegrass band playing along. It doesn’t necessarily sound like what you would think bluegrass would sound like ‘cause there’s that western kind of cowboy element in it that takes it in a little bit different direction. But I like the set up of a bluegrass band instrumentally.”
Murphey’s son Ryan produced Murphey’s latest CD, Tall Grass and Cool Water, which is receiving much critical acclaim. He also plays mandolin on several of the tracks. “He’s been playing mandolin for just about three years now, and it’s just astounding how fast he’s evolved,” Murphey noted. “I’ve been working with Ryan since he was six years old. He started playing in the band formally when he was about thirteen or fourteen. He started playing rhythm guitar, then he graduated to lead guitar. Then he learned to play mandolin.” Murphey loves playing with his son. “It does feel great. My son understands more about my music than I do, I think sometimes.”
Murphey’s music is a reflection of his love for the American West and it’s ranching traditions. “You know, it’s a pretty elusive thing to come up with a standard definition of cowboy music…The truth is, for me, cowboy music is an attempt on the part of people who are ranchers and cowboys to express themselves about the lives they lead and that also includes the historical music which is still very lively and very straight forward and very inspirational to people…I just love the Southwest and the West in general. It’s always been my backyard. It’s my people; it’s my culture. I understand it and I love it.”
For more information on Murphey’s Tulsa show, go to www.tulsarootsmusic.org
-With Permission from The Current
