Coming off the success of his first release in seven years, James McMurtry is just as fresh, gritty, and gutsy as he was 35 years ago. His songwriting process has been admired by contemporaries such as John Mellencamp and Jason Isbell, and despite earning Americana Music Award nominations and topping the Americana Music Radio chart for six weeks in 2005 and 2006, remains down to earth: McMurtry makes “real music for real people.”