Former Compadre Records exec starts new label, signs James McMurtry
Monday, February 11, 2008 – A former member of the Compadre Records team started his own label with James McMurtry as the lone artist.
Logan Rogers, who worked at Compadre for five years with Brad Turcotte, started Lightning Rod Records. Billy Joe Shaver was the key artist at the Texas-centric Compadre label, which was bought by Matthew Knowles' music empire. Knowles is the father of Beyonce.
"I left Compadre last summer and (have) been kind of setting everything up and signing James last fall," Rogers said from Tennessee. "So, now we're getting everything ready for the release."
McMurtry's label debut is out in mid-April. "I'm really happy to work with James again," he said.
"He tours a lot, and he tours well everywhere, That's what I really like about him. That's the model I hope to use from here on."
Rogers said he was looking to sign another artist. "I may sign someone else this year, but I'm not looking to look release anything this year."
A key criteria for inking another artist would be finding "touring established acts like James," Rogers said.
"I've always wanted to do this," said Rogers. "I kind of had this in the back of my mind."
The timing was helped by Compadre because he was laid off in the purchase by Knowles. Rogers also previously worked at VHR Records, where Mark McGuinn had a hit single, "Mrs. Steven Rudy."
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Live in Europe
The only weakness of James McMurtry's "Live In Europe" is its brevity, clocking in at just over 40 minutes. Recorded in The Netherlands and Germany, McMurtry focuses primarily on songs from his excellent 2008 release "Just Us Kids."
Amongst the stronger tracks are Just Us Kids, a somewhat fatalistic view on aging ("Not so skinny, not so free/ Not so many as we used to be") and You'd A Thought, which also examines the aging process ("There's so »»» |
Just Us Kids
Singer-songwriter James McMurtry takes aim at the Bush administration, corporate greed and various societal ills in this self-produced effort. There's no confusing McMurtry's "God Bless America," a scathing indictment of cronyism and war profiteering in Iraq ("Negotiation's just no fun/ It don't serve our interests none/ Gonna turn up the heat till it comes to a boil/ Then we'll go get that Arab oil"), with the sentimental Irving Berlin classic. »»» |
Childish Things
The guitar-slinging son of novelist Larry McMurty continues to burn brightly, in his first studio recording since the blistering live set "Live in Aught-Three."
This serves up more of that dish - smart story-songs filled with literary detail, backed by strong guitar work and inventive arrangements. While McMurtry's limited vocal range might leave lesser talents sounding like Lou Reed choking on prairie dust, McMurtry uses it to his advantage, coming across like a wizened narrator of real-life incident. »»» |
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