Michael Martin Murphey in Austin

Michael Martin Murphey is an American singer-songwriter, born in Dallas in 1945, whose music spans country, folk, soft rock and the traditions of the American West. He is known for “Wildfire,” “Carolina in the Pines” and “What’s Forever For,” while the album Cowboy Songs made traditional and newly written Western material a central part of his catalogue. In 1986, Michael Martin Murphey founded WestFest, an annual event devoted to Western music, poetry and horsemanship. His stage work later became closely associated with Cowboy Christmas, a recurring holiday concert program of seasonal music, cowboy songs and storytelling. He has presented Cowboy Christmas in theatres across the United States for decades, often backed by the Rio Grande Band.