James McMurtry, a Texas native whose brand of Americana music has earned him a worldwide following, began his music career in the Old Pueblo.
"I played some of my first gigs in Tucson at the Sawmill Cafe," McMurtry said in a recent phone interview, referring to a former hangout on East University Boulevard.
In the early '80s, McMurtry studied English at the UA. His father is Larry McMurtry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Oscar-winning screenwriter who will be in town next month for the second Tucson Festival of Books.
When James McMurtry is here, the rock and roots guitarist always heads to South Tucson for a "gizmo" at Crossroads Restaurant.
His most recent album, "Just Us Kids," made several Top 10 lists in 2008.
USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and and the Philadelphia Inquirer are just a few of the publications that named the album one of the year's best.
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Expect to hear songs from that album, his ninth, when McMurtry and his band, the Heartless Bastards, play Club Congress on Tuesday.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $13 in advance, and $15 on the day of the show.
Tiffany Kimmell is a University of Arizona student who is apprenticing at the Star. Contact her at starapprentice@azstarnet.com
