James McMurtry

Springsteen even joked that his song didn't become popular until it was rewritten about a feminine hygiene product.

And on a more sobering note, we're going to have James McMurtry take us to the lights of Cheyenne.

Look off down the highway at the glittering lights.

Like windshield glass on the shoulder at night As the diesels come grinding on up from the plains All bunched up like pearls on a string And I guess time don't mean nothing, not nothing at all And out on the horizon the broken stars fall Oh, broken stars, they fall down on the land And get mixed in together with the lights that shine Well, I've been up all night and I'm down in my back Workin' the counter to take up the slack Cause the money tree's light and the whiskey stream's low You ain't worked a week since July You say the gravel pit's hirin' after the first

Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands.

You know, we just zigzagged across a struggling nation.

And after a wistful and kind of sad tour of Cheyenne, courtesy of James McMurtry, Eliza Gilkyson took us to view kind of the dark part of the lights of Santa Fe.

And we ended up having Vic Chestnut share his haunting version of The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.

Um, but yeah, she was great, too.

And oh, James McMurtry, um, w- that was my first time seeing him, not officially, uh, but that story might be for another time.

Um-

Okay.

Today's show brings together performances from the 2024 and 2025 concerts to protect our aquifer.

Over those two evenings, audiences enjoyed an incredible lineup featuring blues man Bobby Rush, Shemeika Copeland, James McMurtry, Steve Forbert, Tom Rush, Tim Easton, Shakira Saeeda, Alice Howe, Freebo, Marcella Simeon, Anne Harris, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Eric Lewis, Jimmy Davis, and many more special guests.

It's a reminder that no matter where these artists come from, Memphis remains a place where music creates community.

Let's get back to the stage at the concerts to protect our aquifer.

I just think he's amazing.

And James McMurtry, I'm always inspired by his lyricism.

Maddie Cunningham has a new album out that I am really excited to listen to a lot more.

I've listened to it a couple of times and I find her artistry to just be so inspiring.