Lauded Songwriter James McMurtry Announces New Album ‘The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy’ with Title Track

James McMurtry made waves in 2021 with his acclaimed album The Horses and the Hounds. Now, nearly four years later, he’s ready to share a new collection of expertly crafted songs. Today (April 16), McMurtry announced his forthcoming 10-song collection The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. Listen to the lead single and title track below.

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McMurtry’s release schedule is proof that good things come to those who wait. Where some artists pump out an album or two every year, he chooses to take his time and let things simmer low and slow. This means that he regularly takes a few years between releases. The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy comes four years after The Horses and the Hounds. That album came six years after Complicated Game, and so on. Longtime fans know that his albums will invariably be worth the wait in the end. His next project, slated for release on June 20 via New West Records, is no different.

[RELATED: James McMurtry on Songwriting at 30A Festival: “If You Can Shake It, Then You’re Probably Not Supposed To Do It”]

James McMurtry on “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy”

James McMurtry spoke about the inspiration behind the title track from The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy in a press release. “The album title and that song comes from my stepmother, Faye,” he shared. “After my dad passed, she asked me if he ever talked to me about his hallucinations. He’d gone into dementia for a while before he died, but hadn’t mentioned to me anything about seeing things,” he added. “She told me his favorite hallucinations were the black dog and the wandering boy. I took them and applied them to a fictional character.”

McMurtry found inspiration in his and his family’s history for the stories on his forthcoming album. “You follow the words where they lead. If you can get a character, maybe you can get a story. If you can set it to a verse-chorus structure, maybe you can get a song,” he explained. “A song can come from anywhere, but the main inspiration is fear. Specifically, fear of irrelevance,” he added.

The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy Tracklist and Information

The forthcoming album contains eight new tracks penned by James McMurtry and two covers–“Laredo (Small Dark Something)” by Jon Dee Graham and “Broken Freedom Song” by Kris Kristofferson. “Kris was one of my first major influences as a child,” he recalled. “He was the first person I recognized as a songwriter. I hadn’t really thought about where songs come from, but I started listening to Kristofferson as a songwriter and thinking, ‘How do you do this?’ Kris had just passed not long before we recorded ‘Broken Freedom Song.’”

The new album drops on June 20. Fans can pre-order a copy today via New West Records.

TRACKLIST:

1. “Laredo (Small Dark Something)”
2. “South Texas Lawman”
3. “The Color of Night”
4. “Pinocchio in Vegas”
5. “Annie”
6. “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy”
7. “Back to Coeur d’Alene”
8. “Sons of the Second Sons”
9. “Sailing Away”
10. “Broken Freedom Song”

Featured Image by Mary Keating-Bruton