Back in 2004, in an effort to make him appear more connected to contemporary culture, President George Bush’s office releaseda list of tunes then in rotation on his iPod. Among the artists was Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry, son of novelist Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment).
That was an odd choice.
A passionate roots rock artist who’s been releasing albums since the late ’80s, McMurtry is known for his songs sympathetically depicting the plight of ordinary people in an America dominated by corporate greed.
His 2005 album Childish Things contained his best-known song “We Can’t Make It Here,” a song he had played at Camp Casey, the anti-war vigil outside Bush’s Crawford ranch during August 2005.
It includes lyrics like “Should I hate people for the shade of their skin/Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I’m in/No I hate the men sent the jobs away/I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams/All lily white and squeaky clean/They’ve never known want, they’ll never know need/Their shit don’t stink and their kids won’t bleed/Their kids won’t bleed in the damn little war/And we can’t make it here anymore.”
McMurtry is performing at the Kent Stage with St. Louis-based roots rock band the Bottle Rockets opening.
Tickets are $20.