James McMurtry w/BettySoo @ Off Broadway

James McMurtry is the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment).  McMurtry’s attention focused on music at an early age. At the age of seven, he picked up a guitar and began listening to songwriters. A few years later, he discovered Kris Kristofferson: “I didn’t know what he was singing about, but I liked the way the words ran together, so maybe that had something to do with me wanting to be a songwriter.”

Dedication to his craft and a tireless work ethic account for McMurtry’s perseverance in an industry that has made it nearly impossible for idiosyncratic artists to earn a living, but it’s his blend of traditional style and socially potent songwriting that has kept his audience coming back decade after decade.

His 2025 album, The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, includes guest appearances from Charlie Sexton, Sarah Jarosz, Pat MacDonald of Timbuk 3, and Bonnie Whitmore of the Whitmore Sisters. The album’s artwork includes a sketch of McMurtry as a boy by novelist and counterculture icon Ken Kesey; it also featured a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Broken Freedom Song” in tribute to the great singer-songwriter, who died while McMurtry was preparing the sessions.

BettySoo’s vocal prowess is a thing of wonder.  A world-class instrument of deft phrasing and purity, a voice that knows when to hold back and when to dive in.  At her own live shows, taking a verse onstage with friends or singing harmonies in sessions with Austin’s finest, BettySoo sings with consummate loveliness and self-assurance.  A voice that knows the roots of American music inside and out, coming from a most unexpected place – a diminutive Korean American with a deceptively girl-next-door demeanor.