(or What I Spent My Grocery Money On)

You all know by now my penchant for owning the physical disc.  Even when times are hard.  I’d love to tell you it’s because my high morals won’t allow me to copy OPD’s (other people’s discs) but, well, I just really like to peel off the wrappers and pop out the pretty inserts and stuff. 

And, I do like to cuss the postal system when it’s late, cuss the state of our society because there are no independent music stores – you know, get myself a little worked up.  Then, when I finally get my hands on the actual item, I run my fingers over the lyrics booklet, read the dedication and thank yous and all before I listen from track one to the very end.

From the moment I sussed out the info that Steve Earle was releasing "Townes", I knew I’d have to have that one.  It’s a forever keeper.  And, Guy Clark’s "Sometimes the Song Writes You" was getting multiple rave reviews before I’d ever heard of it, so I internet-ordered that.  Kris Kristofferson’s "Closer to the Bone" kept me camped out by the mailbox for a while.  Well worth the frostbite, though. 

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The buzz surrounding James McMurtry’s latest record, “Childish Things,” is all about one track: the seven minute long epic protest song “We Can’t Make It Here.”  It’s a great song, no doubt, one that’s prodded political bloggers tochildishthings write music reviews, sparked music reviewers to write up comparisons to more mainstream “patriotic” fare and has even been called “the best protest song since Bob Dylan’s Masters of War” by no less a cultural icon than Stephen King.

The fact that he has never really been a political songwriter probably contributes to all the fuss.  If Steve Earle had written “Can’t Make It Here,” it may have passed without much notice, but McMurtry has built a reputation for writing thoughtful lyrics that focus on plain old humans and human issues.  True to form, “Can’t Make It Here” catalogues the current political atmosphere’s human toll in true McMurtry fashion.

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