The Music of James McMurtry
An abbreviated discography with comments by the artist

Too Long in the Wasteland
(Columbia, 1989)
“My first record, produced by John Mellencamp. My vocals are woeful, but the band rocks and I played some pretty good acoustic guitar. I learned some tricks from John, ways of structuring songs
so they lend themselves to recording.”

Where’d You Hide the Body
(Columbia, 1995)
“Produced by Don Dixon, the album that gave us ‘Levelland,’ later covered by Robert Earl Keen, which I guess is why the frat crowd started coming to my Wednesday night shows at the Continental Club in Austin. I’m not complaining.”

Saint Mary of the Woods
(Sugar Hill, 2002)
“My first self-produced record. Recorded in ADAT (a now pretty much obsolete format), bounced to Pro Tools, and mixed to one-inch analog tape (ancient technology, but great sounding) by Ross Hogarth, one badass engineer.”

Childish Things
(Compadre, 2005)
“Americana Music Association album of the year 2006, thank you thank you. It includes ‘We Can’t Make It Here,’ the song that got me pegged as a protest songster and was named AMA song of the year 2006, thank you thank you.”

Live in Europe
(Lightning Rod, 2009)
“My latest release. Came out in October of last year. Features Ian McLagan on keys, includes a live DVD, and is available on vinyl, if you’re into that.”