Michael Martin Murphey Breaks Levitt Pavillion Attendance Records
DALLAS, TEXAS — Genre-busting Michael Martin Murphey kicked off his
Cosmic Cowboy Revival Tour in Arlington, Texas, Friday night by breaking
attendance records at the Levitt Pavillion.
More than 10,000 people braved the heat when Murphey’s Cosmic Cowboy
Band hit the stage, playing songs from his early days as a pioneer in
the progressive country music era – widely known as the “Cosmic Cowboy“
movement — including “Geronimo’s Cadillac,” “Cosmic Cowboy,” “Wildfire,”
and “Carolina In The Pines.”
was really fun was playing those songs in front of so many young kids,”
Murphey said, adding that the band had also played such classic songs
as “El Paso”, “Big Iron” and his own “Cowboy Logic.”
In the summer of 1970, the closure of the Vulcan Gas Company, a
successful psychedelic music venue in Austin, Texas, left a void in the
city’s live music scene. Coincidentally, it was also the same summer
that a young Michael Murphey moved to the state capital, having already
made a name for himself in Los Angeles as a writer of hits for groups
like The Monkees and artists like John Denver.
Soon after arriving, the Texas native began the legendary “Cosmic
Cowboy” movement and in the process, kickstarted Austin’s birth as the
“Live Music Capital of the World.” He was a major influence on “Outlaws”
Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jerry Jeff Walker and was the first
of the Austin-based musicians of that era to earn a major label
recording contract before topping the pop charts with hits like
“Geronimo’s Cadillac”, “Wildfire” and “Carolina In The Pines.”
Murphey is looking back at those early years as he launches a tour
across Texas beginning May 25 through June 2 with his “New Cosmic Cowboy
Band.”
“When he lived in Austin in the mid- ‘70s,” wrote John T. Davis in the
Austin American Statesman, “he was one of the formative voices and most
sophisticated songwriters of the progressive-country boom that defined
the city’s music in that era. Murphey originals such as ‘Geronimo’s
Cadillac,’ ‘Alley’s of Austin’ and ‘Backslider’s Wine’ remain among the
most graceful and accomplished tunes to come out of Austin’s turbulent
country-rock scene.”
lifelong resident and loyal son of Texas, Murphey is also known for
such huge hits as “What’s Forever For,” “Long Line of Love,” “I’m Gonna
Miss You Girl” and “Cowboy Logic,” among others. According to BMI, back
to back performances of his award winning songs alone, with each
averaging 3 minutes each, would amount to 63 years of continuous
airplay. In all, he has made over 35 albums, earning six gold album
awards and becoming the first artist to attain a Certified Gold Album in
Western Music since Marty Robbins. His songs have been recorded by Lyle
Lovett, Kenny Rogers, John Denver, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jerry Jeff
Walker, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and a host of other recording
artists.
The COSMIC COWBOY BAND this tour is: Pat Flynn-guitar; Ryan
Murphey-guitar, mandolin ; David Coe: fiddle/mandolin ; Bobby
Blazier-drums ; Gary Roller- bass; Herb Steiner: steel guitar.