Music Under The Star: James McMurtry with Akina Adderley
Programs
July 7, 2017 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Music Under the Star is a free concert series held each July on the Bullock Museum's Lone Star Plaza. The public is invited to experience free concerts under the Museum's iconic Lone Star from 6 to 9 p.m. with complimentary garage parking. Bring the whole family to enjoy an incredible lineup of Texas artists. Bring non-perishable food items for the Central Texas Food Bank.
Please note: Food, soda, beer and a signature cocktail featuring Tito's Handmade Vodka are available for purchase at all MUTS concerts. Bring your own blankets and camp chairs.
Event Details
Kicking off the 2017 Music Under the Star series on July 7 is James McMurtry. McMurtry tours year round and consistently throws down unparalleled powerhouse performances. According to the The Washington Post , “...much attention is paid to James McMurtry’s lyrics and rightfully so: He creates a novel’s worth of emotion and experience in four minutes of blisteringly stark couplets. What gets overlooked, however, is that he’s an accomplished rock guitar player ... serious stuff, imparted by a singularly serious band.”
Opening at 6 p.m. is Akina Adderley. Adderley’s exciting new project, The Upper East Side, performs with a neo-soul sound deeply rooted in jazz and tinged with gritty attitude. You will be moved by what the Austin-American Statesman calls Akina’s “rich, emotive pipes,” impacted by her songs with their infectious grooves and incisive lyrics, and blown away by the monster musicianship of her slammin' new band.
The Bullock Museum's exhibitions, Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, produced by the Grammy Museum, and Common Ground: The Music Festival Experience from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will remain open during the concerts.
James McMurtry spins stories with a poet’s pen (“Long Island Sound”) and a painter’s precision (“She Loves Me”). Proof: The acclaimed songwriter’s new Complicated Game. McMurtry’s first collection in six years spotlights a craftsman in absolutely peak form as he turns from political toward personal (“These Things I’ve Come to Know,” “You Got to Me”). “The lyrical theme is mostly about relationships,” McMurtry says. “It’s also a little about the big old world verses the poor little farmer or fisherman. I never make a conscious decision about what to write about.”
McMurtry's critically lauded first album Too Long in the Wasteland (1989) was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of acclaimed projects for Columbia and Sugar Hill Records. In 1996, McMurtry received a Grammy nomination for Long Form Music Video for Where'd You Hide the Body. Additionally, It Had to Happen (1997) received the American Indie Award for Best Americana Album.
Akina Adderley’s exciting new project, The Upper East Side, performs with a neo-soul sound deeply rooted in jazz and tinged with gritty attitude. The group features four of Austin's finest and most in-demand jazz and soul musicians: Carter Arrington on guitar (Malford Milligan), Bennett Wood on alto saxophone (The Gabriel Santiago Quintet), Daniel Durham on bass (Alejandro Escovedo, Elias Haslanger), and Wayne Salzmann on drums (Bob Schneider and Lonelyland, Eric Johnson). These powerhouse players perform Akina’s songs with an improvisational spirit, shredding rock ‘n roll energy, and heavy, gut-wrenching soul. Come out to a show. You will be moved by what the Austin-American Statesman calls Akina’s “rich, emotive pipes,” impacted by her songs with their infectious grooves and incisive lyrics, and blown away by the monster musicianship of her slammin' new band. Akina has produced two albums with her popular 9-piece soul band, Akina Adderley & The Vintage Playboys. These days, she is heated and hungry to get into the studio with The Upper East Side.
Music Under The Star is Supported by Frost Bank and Tito's Handmade Vodka.
Media Sponsorship for Music Under The Star is provided by KUTX.
Presented in partnership with Atomic Picnic and MP&E Gear Cameras and Lighting.
