Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis McMurtry.
Hi Curtis, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. I have been writing songs since I was four years old and started performing my original material in venues in Austin when I was in middle school. In college, I studied music composition and ethnomusicology, which improved my ability to produce and orchestrate my material. After college, I moved to Nashville to co-write with other songwriters, but I came home to Austin after a year there. Since moving back to Austin in 2014, I have released three albums and toured both nationally and internationally. I have opened tours for Grammy award-winning artists and had my music featured on NPR. My most recent album, Toothless Messiah was released in February 2021.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been smooth exactly, but I’m not sure that I have struggled, certainly not in comparison to many. I have found that after a release there’s a year (at most) of what feels like success, but then that dries up and I then need to make something new fairly quickly in order to keep audiences/venue owners interested so that I can keep touring. I write constantly, but I don’t finish material quickly. I do sometimes feel that I’m working from an outdated model in terms of what it means to be a songwriter and that I have a tendency to dwell on the negative aspects of modern marketing and ignore the positive sides of it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a singer-songwriter, and I tell audiences that I play sad songs and mean songs. Onstage, that’s a joke to diffuse tension, but it’s true for the most part. Most of my material is depressing or spiteful or both. In my songs, soldiers come home to commit suicide, relationships turn borderline murderous, cruel regimes crush their opposition and prophets abandon hope for the future. It’s not feel-good music by any means, but I think the stories are important and I’m proud of the way I can sharpen my lyrics into razors. I find a lot of music (of any era, not just today) to be deliberately vague, and I know that my music isn’t. I’ve found that I have a hard time growing my fanbase beyond a certain point (not everyone wants music to feel bad too, which makes total sense) but what few fans I have are wonderful and they’re intensely dedicated.
I am also proud of the orchestration on my albums. I try not to make music that only features me banging on a guitar. I enjoy writing chamber arrangements, usually featuring cello, upright bass, and low reeds or brass. In this way, it’s like making a film score to accompany the lyrics, and I try to avoid convention without making something that can be dismissed as quirky. It’s a delicate balance.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Anyone starting out now (assuming they’re younger than me) might even have a better grasp on the current landscape than I did/do, and I’m struggling to think of advice that will still be relevant in a year, especially post-covid advice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curtismcmurtrymusic.com
- Instagram: @curtismcmurtry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curtismcmurtrymusic
- Other: https://curtismcmurtry.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Todd Wolfson Megan Anderson
