James McMurtry-Just Us Kids (2008-VBR-Country)

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ARTiST: James McMurtry

ALBUM: Just Us Kids

BiTRATE: 195kbps avg

QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz

LABEL: Blue Rose Records

GENRE: Rock

SiZE: 88.32 megs

PLAYTiME: 1h 00min 09sec total

RiP DATE: 2008-04-11

STORE DATE: 2008-04-18



Track List:

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01. Bayou Tortous 4:50

02. Just Us Kids 5:08

03. God Bless America (Pat 5:01

MacDonald Must Die)

04. Cheney's Toy 5:49

05. Freeway View 3:38

06. Hurricane Party 5:56

07. Ruby and Carlos 6:36

08. Brief Intermission 2:51

09. Fireline Road 5:30

10. The Governor 5:10

11. Ruins of the Realm 4:25

12. You'd a' Thought (Leonard Cohen 5:15

Must Die)



Release Notes:

--------





Singer/songwriter makes a strong political statement on 'Just Us Kids'



...Joining McMurtry are the Heartless Bastards plus Jon Dee Graham, Ian McLagan

and Timbuk3's Pat MacDonald



AUSTIN, Texas -- Lightning Rod Records will release singer/songwriter James

McMurtry's new CD, titled Just Us Kids, on April 15, 2008. McMurtry's ninth

album, which features 12 new songs, is a follow-up to 2005's critically

acclaimed and award-winning project, Childish Things.



McMurtry has long been known as fine storyteller, but he has lately received

nationwide attention for his role as a musical activist. On Just Us Kids,

McMurtry picks up where he left off with his controversial anthem ?We Can't Make

It Here." On ?Cheney's Toy," McMurtry once again reminds us that the war in Iraq

is still going on, with veiled references to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and the

stark image of a soldier who returned from the conflict, blind and brain

damaged. The lyrics of ?God Bless America" call out the corporate profiteering

and cronyism of the heads of state who led the country to war. McMurtry's songs

introduce the listener to characters that exist on the fringes of society. Drug

addicts, murderers, crooked politicians, and other unsavory folks all play a

part on Just Us Kids.



The self-produced album shows that McMurtry has developed a skill as producer

that matches his songcraft. The songs on Just Us Kids vary widely in texture and

instrumentation. The Faces' Ian McLagan's piano playing is all over the album

while Timbuk3's pat mAcdonald's harmonica peppers several tracks. Austin

singer/songwriter John Dee Graham contributes a wailing guitar solo to ?Fireline

Road." Grammy-nominated Louisiana rocker, C.C. Adcock, adds a swampy guitar part

to the album opener, ?Bayou Tortous." The rhythm section is McMurtry's longtime

road band, Daren Hess and Ronnie Johnson.



Just Us Kids will be the first release for Nashville-based Lightning Rod

Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers/RED. Label president Logan Rogers

previously worked as director of A&R for Compadre Records on the release of

McMurtry's last two albums. ?Working with James McMurtry has been a career

highlight for me. He is a phenomenal artist with tremendous integrity, and I can

think of no better debut release for Lightning Rod Records," said Rogers.



Author Stephen King described Ft. Worth native McMurtry as ?the truest, fiercest

songwriter of his generation" in Entertainment Weekly. The son of acclaimed

author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), James grew up on a

steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His first album, released in

1989, was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of

acclaimed projects for Columbia and Sugar Hill. In 2003, McMurtry released the

universally lauded Live in Aught-Three (Compadre Records). 2005's Childish

Things garnered some of the highest critical praise of McMurtry's career and

spent six weeks at number one on R&R's Americana Music Radio Chart in 2005 and

2006. In September 2006, Childish Things and ?We Can't Make It Here" won the

Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively.



In 2007, McMurtry performed on PBS' long running music program, ?Austin City

Limits," for the second time in his career. This year, McMurtry and his band

will launch a national tour in support of 'Just Us Kids.'