James McMurtry comes to Daryl’s House in Pawling on April 3 — solo, with BettySoo opening as part of The Black Dog & The Wandering Boy Tour — and if you know McMurtry’s work, you know this is going to be an evening of songwriting that does not pull a single punch. The son of novelist Larry McMurtry, James inherited his father’s eye for the American landscape and sharpened it into some of the most incisive character-driven storytelling in modern roots music.
A solo McMurtry show is a particular experience. Without the band, the lyrics and the guitar work carry the entire weight, and songs like “Choctaw Bingo” and “We Can’t Make It Here” become even more devastating stripped to their essence. BettySoo, the Austin-based singer-songwriter, is an ideal opening act — warm, literate, and equipped with the kind of voice that stops a room cold.
Tickets are available through TicketWeb. For anyone who believes songwriting is the hardest and most important thing in music, this is a double bill that proves the point.