Murry here, and a little about me and the band you hear on my records.

I was born & raised in Texas, where in my 20's I co-founded alt-country legends Old 97s. Over the years the 97s have released more than a dozen studio albums and have appeared in films, television and had the pleasure of working with some of our musical heroes like X's John Doe & Exene, Waylon Jennings, and REM's Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey. I've written plenty within the group, both by myself and with my long time music partner Rhett Miller, but it was a few years living and writing as an Old 97 before I felt like my writing voice was unique enough to strike out on my own. The result was my first solo, I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way in 2008. I got a lot of wonderful response to it, one of the proudest of which was the inclusion of my version of the Carter Family's "In The Shadow of Clinch Mountain" in The Winding Stream, the acclaimed documentary film on the legendary Carters. Despite all this nice attention, the demands of the 97s and just life in general delayed recording a true follow up. I finally got in that mood in 2020, and I went happily overboard, as is my habit. I began working with friends and musical soulmates pianist Annie Crawford, North Carolina drummer Richard Hewett, and Austin's upright bassist Faith Shippey. Mix and mastering engineer Todd Burke (Ben Harper, Belle & Sebastian, many other cool groups) became my other producer-half, and has proven indispensable for helping me get to what you hear on these new records. Between the lot of us, we completed a large body of new work, the first of which we just released on Fluff & Gravy Records, the 10-song Trail Songs of the Deep. Another 10-songer, Another Idle Day is completed and scheduled for early 2026.

Black Keys and Charley Crockett producer pal Mark Neill, who truly helped me figure out my “sound” when he produced my first solo, describes me as "a Southern Gothic Nick Drake experience", and I won't disagree. Though I must add Syd Barrett, Opal, Johnny Cash and most things 60's as things that continue to inspire.

That's me. As a songwriter my output can be like a windy old house attic - disheveled, sometimes spooky, sometimes too blue, but also punctuated with warmth and light, hopefully. Enjoy, and see you all soon, be it with the Old 97s, my travels with The Long Ryders, or just me and my solo pals.

Murry

PS! - I just finished production on Rhett Miller's upcoming 2025 album A Lifetime Of Riding By Night and I couldn't be more proud of it, and of him. It's absolutely fab and vibey and psychedelic and everything I get excited about in an album. Annie, Richard, Faith and I are the band, with a guest appearance from Turnpike Troubador's Evan Felker. If you dig the sonics on Trail Songs, you're going to love Lifetime'. Out October 10. :)