Michael Martin Murphey Puts His Cowboy Boots in Bluegrass

Posted Feb 11th 2010 2:30PM by Vernell Hackett

Michael Martin Murphey wondered how he would be accepted in bluegrass circles when he released 'Buckaroo Blue Grass' in 2008. The Texas-born singer/songwriter is not wondering anymore. The album was nominated for a Grammy for best bluegrass recording and the follow-up, 'Buckaroo Blue Grass II,' has just been released.Michael's original concept was to cover some of his songs that had already been covered by bluegrass bands. Artists including Flatt and Scruggs, the Seldom Scene, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver and the Country Gentlemen have recorded his familiar tunes, including 'Carolina in the Pines,' 'Dancing in the Meadow' and 'Fiddlin' Man,' so Michael knew those songs would work in the bluegrass world.While those particular tunes don't stray too far from classic bluegrass subject matter, a look at the new album offers a few surprises. First there's a duet with Carrie Hassler on Michael's classic pop-country hit, 'Wildfire.' There's another duet, with bluegrass veteran Audie Blaylock, on decidedly non-bluegrass artist Marty Robbins' 'Running Gun.' And an even further surprise inclusion is an early MMM hit, 'Cosmic Cowboy,' which was a phrase used to describe the group of musicians who lived in and worked out of Austin, Texas, in the 1970s. The references to skinny dippin', burial grounds, guitar licks and a harvest moon in the lyrics really aren't that out of place in bluegrass music."Cowboy music and bluegrass music are really not all that far apart," Michael tells The Boot. "I've always used some of the bluegrass musicians on my cowboy albums, so they were already familiar with me and my music, so that wasn't a big stretch either." Read more.

BUCKAROO BLUEGRASS 2 COMING

Rural Rhythm Records is proud to announce Michael Martin Murphey has a signed a multi-album recording contract with the label. Due to the success of Murphey’s Rural Rhythm albums, “Buckaroo Blue Grass” (released Feb 09) and “Cowboy Classics – Old West Cowboy Collection” (released June 2009), the label will release “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS 2” on February 9, 2010. The project will feature two singles that were released last week during the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) World of Bluegrass held in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Wednesday, September 30 during the IBMA convention, Rural Rhythm Records hosted a Private Showcase that included music industry VIPs who were treated to incredible performances and surprise announcements. This special event included an extremely moving performance by Michael Martin Murphey and Bluegrass #1 hit artist, Carrie Hassler singing “Wildfire.” Murphey and Hassler recorded the new version of this mega hit song just two weeks prior to the IBMA convention. Last Thursday, Murphey appeared on WSM Radio with Bill Cody where the song was played during the show. Due to the overwhelming listener response after 'Wildfire's' airplay on the show, and in anticipation of Murphey and Hassler performing the song October 17th at SMU game during the half-time show, the song will be available for digital download in the next few weeks.

Also during the VIP Showcase, Murphey performed another new single, “Running Gun” with bluegrass veteran, Audie Blaylock & Redline much to the delight of the audience. The song will also be available on “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS 2.”

Traditional Ties, 03/01, Highlights

Traditional Ties will have three new adds this Sunday, 03/01. The feature will be from Balsam Range. New releases from Michael Martin Murphey and Patrick McAvinue will be introduced with mulitiple cuts played from each.

The complete playlist will be posted prior to the broadcast.

Traditional Ties, Sundays at 10:00 pm eastern time. 91.3 WYEP FM, Pittsburgh PA.

Streamig - http://wyep.org/

Michael Martin Murphey releases Bluegrass CD

Michael Martin Murphey's "Buckaroo Blue Grass" Album and New Music Video Now Released

Rural Rhythm Records is proud to announce today’s new album release of “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” by Michael Martin Murphey that includes two recently released singles, “Carolina in the Pines” and “Lone Cowboy.” Terry Herd from the Bluegrass Radio Network said, “Michael Martin Murphey's music has always had an uncanny ability to reach across genres and generations to connect with fans of all kinds of music. With ‘BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS,’ he's taken that gift a step further by scoring a direct hit on the heart's of bluegrass fans both young and old, and believe me, that is not an easy thing to do!" Another track from the album, “Close to the Land (America’s Heartland),” now in its fourth year as the theme song for the national hit television show America’s Heartland, is now available in VIDEO RELEASE. This music video includes images from Paul Mobley’s book, THE AMERICAN FARMER - a recent winner of the Book of the Year Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The video is available for viewing Vimeo.com/3149339.

Erik Ness, Director of Communications for the New Mexico Farm Bureau was very enthusiastic about “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” and recently wrote, “The new album on Rural Rhythm Records contains several, sudden surprises including a bluegrass revival of a long-ago Monkee’s song ‘What Am I Doing Hanging Around?’ Murphey wrote the song during his formative music days in California. His compadre, Monkee leader Michael Nesmith, put the song on one of the group’s albums making it one of first big time songs for the young singer/songwriter from Texas. In this version Murphey breaths new life into it like a cowboy blowing on the morning coals of his campfire.

”Many fans have been curious about the spelling of “BLUE GRASS” on the CD instead of “bluegrass” so record label President, Sam Passamano explains, "When Murph and I were developing the cover art for ‘BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS’, I mentioned that it would be cool if we used the old school alternative spelling for Blue Grass that can be found on many classic albums by our Bluegrass Legends and many of our Rural Rhythm titles released in the 60's that almost always used this ‘Blue Grass alternative spelling. Murph thought that this would be a nice touch to connect something from the genres past to the present as he delivers his own Bluegrass style to many of the well known and loved, Michael Martin Murphey classic songs...And a few new ones, like his current single ‘Lone Cowboy.”"It was a nice honor for ‘BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS’ to be selected to appear on the cover of the RYKO Distribution New Release Book, which included all their Label's new release titles scheduled for a February 10th street date. Quite a nice nod of support from our National Distributor and the support for the album from our music retailers has be very strong too, with excellent product coverage at all levels; Chains, Independents, Mass Merchants and Online,” Passamano continued.

On March 1, 2009, Murphey will be honored along with Willie Nelson, Guy Cark and Allen Shamblin by The Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association at the Fifth Annual Homecoming Concert to be held at the Paramount Theater, in Austin, Texas. The concert and awards ceremony will feature performances by these honorees in an intimate, in-the-round songwriter showcase. On April 26, 2009, Murphey will serve as Host of the 7th Annual Texas Music Awards at the Palestine Civic Center in Palestine, Texas on April 26, 2000 and will perform in concert after the show.

For more information on Michael Martin Murphey including a complete tour schedule, please visit: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9716529&msgid=333958&act=9LKC&c=139089&admin=0&destination=http://www.michaelmartinmurpheymusic.com/