James McMurtry Returns to a Sold-Out Knotty Pine

The Knotty Pine welcomes back an old friend on Wednesday, August 5th.

James McMurtry, Texas musician and songwriter who has played with the likes of John Mellencamp and Dwight Yoakam, is a veteran of the road and no stranger to Teton Valley. McMurtry first discovered the venue back in 1999-2000, right as the scene at the Knotty first began to take off.

"We met [two local musicians] at a gig at the Mangy Moose once," McMurtry told the Valley Signal in a recent interview. "Later, when we had some days off in the region, we called them up to see if there was any place we could play for tips. They suggested calling the Knotty Pine down in Victor."

"On a week's notice, they packed the place out," he added.

Ranked among the top 100 greatest living American songwriters in a recent New York Times survey, McMurtry's gift for storytelling runs in the family. His father, Larry McMurtry, was a novelist whose works included Lonesome Dove. James carries on the tradition in his down-to-earth character studies and commentaries, delivered at the gritty crossroads of Americana and outlaw country. Live shows are where McMurtry and his trusted backing band truly thrive.

For their 2026 tour run, McMurtry and his band have incorporated some new talent. "We've been working with BettySoo," he told the Signal. "She started as our opener and is pretty much a full member of the band now. She opens the show, I sit in on a couple of her songs, and then she sings and plays accordion with us for the rest of the set."

With political commentary a bedrock of his songwriting, McMurtry tells of the struggles that his protagonists face, from the universal and mundane to the austere. During the interview, he highlighted challenges that minorities such as BettySoo encounter in the present day.

"American citizens are getting detained because ICE doesn't care where you're actually from. They just care what you look like," McMurtry reflected. "I carry a passport everywhere in case I want to leave the country. BettySoo is Korean-American, and she carries a passport and a birth certificate everywhere in case she needs to prove she can stay in the country."

As McMurtry and his band wind their way throughout the USA, the Knotty Pine serves as a perfect stopover between bigger markets. McMurtry described Victor as "the perfect routing gig," situated just outside the radius of larger venues in Bozeman, Boise and Salt Lake City.

"Traveling bands can route in three different directions from there," the seasoned veteran of the road explained. "We tend to get more young people in the Mountain West, which is great. The younger crowd brings great energy to the shows… [Interacting with the crowd] is a big component" of what makes a live show fun. Most of his band has played countless gigs together, but McMurtry has recruited one new member this summer.

"The drummer on this specific run is filling in... Having a sub keeps us on our toes. Everyone plays differently [with] a different person. That actually does us good because it forces us to listen, feel, and adjust slightly, which makes the music feel new," he shared.

With four decades under his belt since first signing with Columbia Records, McMurtry has a staggering repertoire of songs both old and new to pull from. Well-known classics include "Choctaw Bingo" and "Canola Fields." Alongside his originals, keep an ear out for covers such as Kris Kristofferson's "Broken Freedom Song," which McMurtry covered on his 2025 album The Black Dog & the Wandering Boy.

"Kris was one of my major influences as a child. He was the first person that I recognized as a songwriter… Kris had just passed not too long before we recorded it," McMurtry shared via his website.

Although the Knotty Pine may have changed a little since McMurtry's first visit back in 2000, the venue still promises to offer a homecoming of sorts to this master storyteller and his longtime band. James McMurtry & The Martial Law Review play the Knotty Pine on Wednesday, August 5, but the show is sold out. See knottypinesupperclub.com for more.

Sources

• Knotty Pine Supper Club