. To make it in this scene, a singer not only has to sing well, but also write his or her own material. A whole bevy of performers has emerged, led by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, and Steve Earle--the old timers. And a group of youngsters, among them: Pat Green, Slaid Cleaves, Blue Edmonson, Rodney Hayden, Cory Morrow, and Cody Canada of Cross Canadian Ragweed. There are others--lots of them. Then there is one that falls somewhere between these two groups--he's not exactly young--but his music is just now being discovered in many circles. And he's not exactly country. Or rock.{mosimage}James McMurtry: he'll deny this, but first and foremost, he's a writer. But unlike his dad, Larry, James writes in a different medium, one more suitable for this new generation. He writes songs that paint the changing face of America--where sons and daughters of cattlemen and farmers sell off the cows and horses, leave the land fallow, and migrate to the city. We who stay on the farm rent land to hunters that come from the city and spend fifteen hundred dollars to shoot a deer we feed with corn. Unless we come from an area with no deer. Then we gamble, get high on pot and speed washed down with Crown Royal whiskey, shoot at the sky with rifles and kill feral hogs. Unless that land is suitable for a shopping mall or a sub-division. Then we sell it also. Or divide it into owner-financed lots, which we sell to slackers with no kind of credit so we can get it back to sell again.Larry McMurtry's struggle to get off of the farm led him to write novels. I'm sure his dad thought him crazy. But he's done well at it. James, too, took a look at his dad's work and life and decided he wanted something different. So he picked up a guitar. I'm sure he has questioned this choice at times--making it as a musician is a tough endeavor. But I think he chose wisely.Who would have guessed that this new generation would quit reading books? Perhaps James did. He knew what he liked and what he didn't. And it appears he wasn't alone. In a world of television, computers, and video games, young people now prefer entertainment in other forms; music and movies sell much better than books. But the skill required to write a song is different than a novelist who has unlimited lines at his disposal--a musical poet must write in short concise phrases that inspire one's mind to think and elaborate and then marry them to a catchy sound to make it all go down.James has mastered the craft. No one distills into music what it was like for a son of Texas to grow up better than he. But why waste time listening to me? Check out some of his lyrics.From Lobo Town:Grand Daddy's good nameFits like a shackle and a chainAnd all them others, long deadStill a' hangin' round my headHard working cattle menThere's not a one left of themThere's only me, there's only mineI guess we're all the other kindThrowin' dice and dippin' snuffOut in a trailer back in the brushSippin' Crown and smokin' weedHuntin' hogs and cookin' speedThat's how we do it nowadaysNo matter what the teachers used to sayPass judgment if you dareSee if any of us care...Or, check out his uncle Slayton from Choctaw Bingo:...Uncle Slayton's got his Texas pride Back in the thickets with his Asian brideHe's got a Airstream trailer and a Holstein cowHe still makes whiskey cause he still knows howHe plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday nightYou know he had to leave Texas but he won't say whyHe owns a quarter section up by lake EufalaCaught a great big ol' blue cat on a driftin' jug lineSells his hard wood timber to the chippin' millCooks that crystal meth cause the shine don't sellHe cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sellYou know he likes that money he don't mind the smell...For my taste, McMurtry's latest, a live recording, is his best to date. In this album he performs a few well-selected old tunes and some more recent offerings along with his band, The Heartless Bastards.James has developed a reputation among musicians as one of the better songwriters of our time. Robert Earl Keen recorded and has done well with two of his songs: Out Here in the Middle from which I stole the title to my column and Levelland, which is really about Floydada, Texas, a God-forsaken little town in the panhandle of Texas. James wrote Levelland for his buddy Max Crawford who grew up there. For those of you who do not believe in miracles, consider this: Max was a Communist. And he survived Floydada. The American Workers Party is not well represented in Floydada. According to McMurtry, Max once said, a good old boy can become an intellectual but an intellectual can't become a good old boy. Man had to have balls the size of King Kong. And a little luck also.Ray Wylie Hubbard, another Texas treasure, is set to cover Choctaw Bingo on his next album. Among Texans that's one hell of a vote of confidence. Most of the time it's the other way around--someone wanting to cover one of Ray's songs.Yep. It's sad to say, but most of us that could get off of the farm did. Some who stayed weren't so bright. And those of us that return come back not for money, but in search of another time when a man's word meant something and honor was a way of life esteemed above making money.But we fall short.Can't hack it. Not with the lure of the city and the easy life there waiting to be grasped: Fine cars, women, drugs, booze. Air conditioning. Eight hour work days. Weekends off.Why work your ass to a frazzle and starve when you can sit on that same ass and make lots of money?James plays the hell out of a guitar and reminds people what they've lost and who they are. His eyes see the things all around us that we somehow fail to notice. His lyrics truthfully describe what is rather than promulgate a fairy tale myth of the country in which we live. He sees through the shallow scams and traditions of politicians, preachers, and shysters and helps those who will listen do the same. Ever notice how Dubya is the only one of the bush children with a Texas accent? And the only one to say nucular, even after this has been pointed out time after time? James did. And has balls enough to tell a room full of drunk Texas rednecks all about it between his songs.James McMurtry works hard at his craft--damn hard.He may not be aware of it, but he is a whole lot more like that Granddad he describes than he'll ever know.But the world has moved on. The world has moved on.* * * * *After I wrote this, I had the opportunity to meet James in person--he graciously agreed to share an evening meal with my wife, Leah and me. He brought along his significant other--a smart, well-spoken and pretty brunette woman. The food we ate was Thai--I ordered something I couldn't pronounce and consumed a dish that tasted as though it might be laced with pine branches. (Us Texans eat both kinds of food: Barbecue and Mexican.) Oh well. The soup was good. But the company was great and we had a good time.Looking at James McMurtry in person, I got the impression I was in the presence of an extremely intelligent man--so much so that he almost seemed intimidating. Kind of like staring into the astute eyes of a judge considering your fate. Not that he was judgmental or aggressive, just that he saw. Kind of left me wondering what it was he saw.James allowed the rest of us to carry on a lot of the conversation and digested what we had to say. One of the lines he uses came up again: A good old boy can become an intellectual but an intellectual can't become a good old boy. While James understands and writes about the good old boy world from which he came, he cannot abide that simple way of looking at the larger world in which we live. Or politicians and preachers that do. He voices dissent (or for that matter, his approval) with measured words, and only then after careful consideration.The man is no doper, or a hard partier. He's a man of vision chronicling the world in which he lives.After the meal, we watched part of his show. I saw the transformation, from the almost shy and reserved person at the restaurant, to the skilled and practiced professional musician who must subject his work to the immediate scrutiny of an audience. I don't think I'd have the courage. He has quite a selection of guitars--he treats them almost with reverence. Each is a special instrument and delivers a precise effect obtained only by hours of practice. James is quite serious about his job; it's no accident that the music sounds as good as the record each time he plays.Like the first time I saw him perform, the songs were well received. And I think those who watched the show realized they had just seen a glimpse of greatness.Do yourself a favor and buy one of his cds or check out his live show when it comes to a city near you. Better yet, come visit Austin and the Continental Club some Wednesday night. You'll be glad you did.And you will have heard the voice of a real Texan.Pick up James' latest release, Live in Aught Three, over at LoneStarMusic.ComVisit James McMurtry's website here: www.JamesMcMurtry.com©Copyright 2004 Don Henry Ford Jr.--------------------About the Author - Don Henry Ford, Jr.When Don's not writing books he lends out his talent to Americana Roots to put together great articles like this. You can pick up Don's latest book Contrabando: Confessions of a Drug Smuggling Cowby at your local bookstore or online at Cinco Puntos Press.