Artist:     Michael Martin Murphey and friend

Album:     Austinology - Alleys of Austin

Label:     Wildfire Productions

Release Date:     10.30.2018

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Michael Martin goes back in time with his new album Austinology, taking a look at some of the songs written between 1968-1974 that made Austin, Texas a singer/songwriter town. Together with songwriters who lived in or visited Austin, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Stephen Fromholz, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Mickey Newbury, a great songwriting community was born. Murphey, a native Texan, moved back to his home state after spending several years in Los Angeles.

Murphey didn’t just record his own songs for the project, he recorded others’ tunes as well, including those by Fromholz (“Texas Trilogy”), Clark (“L.A. Freeway”) and Walker (“Little Bird”). “Joining him on the album are Amy Grant, who duets on “Wildfire,” Lyle Lovett on “Drunken Lady of the Morning,” Randy Rogers on “Backsliders Wine,” Kelly Willis on “Little Bird,” The Last Bandoleros on “LA Freeway” and Steve Earle on “Geronimo’s Cadillac.” A virtual choir joins Murphey on the opening track, “Alleys of Austin” and on “Cosmic Cowboy,” including Nelson, Lovett, Willis, Bruce Robison, Gary P. Nunn, Bob Livingston, Django Walker, Ryan Murphey and Rogers.

The album is pure Austin from this time period. The songs come from the pens of writers who painted stories with their words as they told about the men and women who might live next door and the hardships they face, mystical tunes of romance and dreams, historical tunes and songs that make you stop and think. These writers were seeking to share with their listeners words that came from the heart and soul. The songs are as viable today as they were when they were written 50 years ago.

—Vernell Hackett