Music - May 2010
Western
New Mexico Ranch Songs and Such
Doug Muchmore
Play "New Mexican Cattleman's Blues"
from New Mexico Ranch Songs and Such
Story by Emily Drabanski
When it comes to Western music, you can’t get a sound much more authentic than you hear on Doug Muchmore’s New Mexico Ranch Songs & Such. Muchmore lives on his cattle ranch, not far from Claunch, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town about 75 miles southeast of Belén. A member of the Western Music Association, he participates in national cowboy gatherings and performs at various venues in Albuquerque.
Though Muchmore took up ranching later in life, he says he’s always known cowboys. “These songs are not really autobiographical,” he says. “I write about what I’ve observed.” His songs reflect not only the cowboy’s traditional way of life, but also address today’s challenges. In “New Mexico Cattleman’s Blues” he sings of the economic woes of ranchers, while in “Rancher’s Requiem,” a cowboy in his autumn years reflects on his life. Muchmore’s lyrics speak of the sore body of a rancher whose children have left to find work in the city, though he’s still “got plenty for the grandkids to do.” David Moore skillfully plays a somber fiddle as Muchmore laments, “So if I knew then what I know now / Would I put myself through the life of the cow? / I’d probably do it again. / Yeah, I know that I’d do it again.”
While “Computer Chip Cattle” examines how scientists are changing and affecting traditional ranching ways, most of Muchmore’s songs have a timeless, classic quality, sounding as if they could have been written in the days of the Old West. “Lonely Nature,” “Times of a Cowboy,” “Checkin’ On Thangs,” “End of the Line”—all poignantly reflect on the cowboy’s soulful, solitary nature.
Muchmore sings in a voice that’s beautiful and resonant, yet understated: While his style is direct and authoritative, his delivery is gentle and warm. He offers a pleasant break from much of contemporary country music, which is sung with a lot of screechin’ and preachin’. Muchmore is more reminiscent of Ian Tyson or Michael Martin Murphey, particularly when either sings story-songs to acoustic accompaniment.
Adding to the classic sound of this CD are Muchmore’s guitar fingerpicking and his charming whistling on “New Mexico Cattleman’s Blues” and “Lonely Nature.”
