We caught up with the beloved singer-songwriter to talk about his music and movie projects.
Fun fact: Singer, songwriter, and original cosmic cowboy Michael Murphey opted to start using his middle name back in the day — and change his billing to Michael Martin Murphey — largely to avoid confusion with award-winning film and television actor Michael Murphy (Nashville, An Unmarried Woman).
Back when he joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1981 to appear in Hard Country, a drama starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Kim Basinger that he cowrote, “They told me they already had this other guy already registered,” he says. “And the SAG rules prevent two actors using the same name. So I figured I’d better get around that.”
That’s exactly what he did — professionally and quite successfully.
Michael Martin Murphey has continued to make great music with that adjusted name for more than five decades. He also bills himself that way in movies, most recently for Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse, an indie movie based on his indelibly memorable song “Wildfire,” in which he appears with such notables as Adrian Paul, Mo Brings Plenty, up-and-comer Chevel Shepherd, and the late Anne Heche in one of her final screen roles.
Critic Avi Offer described the film, which is now available on various streaming platforms, as “a genuinely wholesome, tender, and inspirational movie that deals with the topics of grief and guilt in a way that’s gentle and family-friendly,” and “wise without being preachy, and sweet without being saccharine.”
But don’t worry: Murphey hasn’t gone all Hollywood on us. After more than six decades in the music business, he’s still as enthusiastic as ever about writing and recording music. Just last September, he released a duet of “Wildfire” with Cody Johnson, which is intended as a centerpiece of his next project: a special anniversary edition of Blue Sky Night Thunder, his enduringly popular 1975 commercial breakthrough album, revisiting Platinum-certified classics like “Carolina in the Pines” with the help of some of today’s biggest names in country music.
“Ever since I was a little kid,” said Cody Johnson, “I’ve been a Michel Martin Murphey fan. He’s always been a standup individual, a great ambassador for the cowboy, and a man of God. So, to be able to record ‘Wildfire’ with him was a dream come true.”
“‘Wildfire’ has always had a spirit of its own,” said Murphey. “It’s a song that’s lived with me for over 50 years. When Cody Johnson and I came together on this new version, it felt like two Texas cowboys riding the same trail, generations apart but connected by the song. He brought such heart and authenticity that it reminded me of when we recorded it in the 1970s. This combination of old and new has come together to create a modern classic version.”
But wait, there’s more: On April 11, Murphey will be among the honorees at the 65th Western Heritage Awards at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Specifically, he will be saluted in the music category for “Burnin’ Vein,” a song adapted from a poetry collection of the same name created by Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach. It’s a traditional Western song that tells the tale of a mining accident in New Mexico — and how it still burns today, fueled by the eternal supply of coal and gas underground.
We recently caught up with Michael Martin Murphey to discuss his past and upcoming projects. Here are highlights from our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.
Cowboys & Indians: First off, congratulations on the Western Heritage Award. A richly deserved honor, I might add.
Michael Martin Murphey: Thanks. In the Old West songs were shared by pioneers, cattlemen, ranchers, painted ladies, and even gunslingers as a way of keeping the West alive. I have always been drawn to songs about the love of the land, the strength of the prairie folks, the dusty trails, the mythic tales, and the legends of a bygone era. I admire these Westerners for their stubborn determination and deep love of life. That’s what I celebrate with my music and why I was drawn to this collaborative work with Karla and Alan.
C&I: And while I’m handing out kudos, here’s another one for your duet with Cody Johnson of my all-time favorite among your songs, “Wildfire.” It’s almost — almost — as great as the 51-year-old original.
Murphey: Thanks again. The funny thing is, I still don’t really understand the full meaning of the song. I dreamed it. I didn’t write it, I dreamed it. I dreamed all the images and just wrote ’em down. And I wrote them down in cursive, by the way, not on a laptop.
It’s kinda like what Bob Dylan said when he got the Pulitzer Prize. Someone asked him how do you write your songs, and he answered, “Sometimes I just have things come to me and I write it all down and try to figure out what it means later.” That’s always been my process, and that’s how I’ve written pretty much all my best material. It comes to you like a dream, and then you write it down. I’ve had situations where I had to write songs on command, back when I was signed to a publishing company and had to come up with stuff for different artists.
C&I: How long did that last?
Murphey: Truth is, I was never good at sitting down and saying, “OK, I’m going to write-to-order here. You know what I mean? “Tell me what you want me to write.” I did a few songs one time writing commercials, but that’s pretty clear. Like, you’re writing a commercial for a beer company. You know what the beer is, and you know what they want. They want people to have a good time and drink beer. So you write a song that says that. But I never was good at that kind of commercial stuff, either.
Well, actually, I had a couple of successes with that for Lone Star Beer back in the day. But I got to the point where I didn’t drink anymore. So I didn’t do any more jobs for beer companies because I couldn’t truly endorse it. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not anti-alcohol. I just personally don’t drink myself. I would do stuff-to-order for maybe clothing companies or banks or stuff like that. But I had a lot more love just having those people sponsor my concerts without having to go indoors and write a song about it.
C&I: Getting back to “Wildfire” for a minute. As I’ve told you before, the first time I heard “Wildfire” was back on WTIX Radio in New Orleans way back while I was attending college. It was late at night while I was listening to the radio in bed — and I am not ashamed to say it scared me. And even now, if I am driving down a dark highway and the song pops up on Sirius XM or something, I still get goosebumps.
Murphey: It is a mysterious song. And writing it was the most mysterious experience I’ve ever had, sort of like what you described. The scariest experience I’ve ever had was that song. And now it’s become a movie. There’s a lot of drama in the movie. There’s a lot of kind of ghostly moments. But it’s probably not what you expect.
C&I: How so?
Murphey: It’s called Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse. And they had to come to me to get permission to use the song in the movie. They also said, “We’re going to send you a script, but if you have any changes, let us know. And they sent me a script. I said, “Well, this is not really the story that I envisioned, but I will say it’s a good use of the images that I had in my mind.” And they made a great little family-friendly movie.
C&I: I see it’s available for streaming on Tubi and other platforms. What’s it all about?
Murphey: About a 15-year-old girl named Samantha who loses her parents and has nothing to do with her life. She’s broke. Her parents lost everything, and then they both died in a car accident. She has to go live on the Cherokee reservation, and that's where this mysterious horse shows up.
C&I: Does Mo Brings Plenty play the part of the horse?
Murphey: [Laughs.] Not quite. He plays a Cherokee spiritual advisor who becomes a sort of mentor to Samantha. He helps her process her grief over her mother’s death and encourages her to accept the legendary Ghost Horse as her spiritual guide.
C&I: A final question. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of your album Blue Sky, Night Thunder, you’re preparing a new recording of it with other artists joining you on classic songs like “Carolina in the Pines” and, of course, “Wildfire.” How’s that coming along?
Murphey: Almost done. So we’re going to start making that available for people to preorder pretty soon on my website. And, of course, the Cody Johnson record’s already out there. That’s really the banner song of the whole project. But I also have some other guest artists who will be chiming in on things. Yeah, it was really fun to do this because, hey, why not mark the anniversary of the original album with something strong?
