In Episode 59 of The String we dive deep into the Austin/Nashville dynamic captured in the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum special exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring 70s. Our feature interview is with Michael Martin Murphey. Best known to many for his crossover hit “Wildfire” from the summer of ‘75, Murphey’s had a wide ranging career. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett among others. And he’s earned abundant recognition for his decades as a champion and revivalist in the field of cowboy songs and western music.

But before all that, Murphey was a key player in the Austin TX phenomenon, residing there as a full time musician from 1968 to 1974. He was a regular at the Armadillo World Headquarters, the iconic venue at the heart of the live scene, where a diverse audience heard a diverse array of roots music, from hard country to traditional blues. Murphey, along with Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker (about whom he wrote the era-defining song “Cosmic Cowboy”) and others forged a country-rock hybrid that became the foundation for the progressive folk music field we now call Americana.

Also, a visit with exhibit co-curator Peter Cooper.