Artist · chart history · #793 in indie & aaa artist polls
James McMurtry
Solo artist Fort Worth United States
James McMurtry is an artist from Fort Worth. James McMurtry has 10 chart appearances on 8 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 2006–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “We Can't Make It Here”, which appears on 4 lists with a best position of #85. The station that charted James McMurtry most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 7 appearances.
James McMurtry was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1962, and storytelling runs in the family. His father, the novelist Larry McMurtry, handed him his first guitar when he was seven; his mother, an English professor, showed him three chords, and by his own telling he picked up the rest by ear, watching other players and lifting whatever he could use.
What came of it is Americana with gravel in its boots: folk rock and roots rock sung in a dry, deadpan drawl, with McMurtry on guitar and reaching for harmonica, organ, bass or keys when a song calls for it. Saint Mary of the Woods, in 2002, carried "Choctaw Bingo", a rowdy roadhouse stomper that plays like a short story you can dance to.
He has recorded for Columbia and for Sugar Hill, leads a band of longtime road partners in Daren Hess, Cornbread and Tim Holt, and has done a little acting on the side, turning up in Daisy Miller and Lonesome Dove and narrating Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by James McMurtry on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | We Can't Make It Here | 4 | #85 | – | – | |
| 2 | Childish Things | 2 | #354 | – | – | |
| 3 | Levelland | 2 | #448 | – | – | |
| 4 | Choctaw Bingo | 1 | #814 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 448 | Levelland | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s |
| 2025 | 399 | We Can't Make It Here | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) |
| 2023 | 876 | Levelland | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 |
| 2016 | 198 | We Can't Make It Here | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 |
| 2010 | 814 | Choctaw Bingo | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) |
| 2009 | 91 | We Can't Make It Here | WYEP 913 Essential Songs |
| 2009 | 354 | Childish Things | WYEP 913 Essential Songs |
| 2009 | 85 | We Can't Make It Here | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade |
| 2009 | 606 | Childish Things | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade |
| 2006 | 796 | Artist ranking | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006) |
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