"This works on several levels for me," he adds. "Other than them putting a significant push behind the new record, they've got European connections that are going to make touring over there much easier. And touring is the name of the game now."

Other than a new album and a new label with good financial backing, what McMurtry is really excited about at the moment is the budding career of his son Curtis.

"He just played [NPR's] Mountain Stage and I couldn't be there. But I like his album, and he's working hard to make his own career happen."

McMurtry notes his son "started writing songs when he was a teenager, and he seems to have a real knack for it."

After managing his own affairs for his entire career, Austin-based McMurtry recently signed with industry vet Jenni Finlay's new artist-management company.

"Jenni finally figured out that radio is just not enough in most cases," McMurtry explains. "These days, you have to tour more, not less, so it finally just made sense to have someone else do a lot of the planning and guidance so I can get on the road and make my part of it work."

McMurtry hasn't had a new studio album since 2008's Just Us Kids, which was preceded by Childish Things (2005). The latter album yielded the single "Can't Make It Here Anymore," which garnered several mentions as the top song of the decade. But McMurtry promises the new album will be something of a change.

"This one isn't as political and direct about it as the two previous albums were," he says. "This one is more about relationships than the previous albums. It's not something I consciously decided, it's just the way this bunch of songs came together. But hopefully a few people will like it."

James McMurtry performs Saturday evening at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Portsmouth. Showtime is 7 p.m.

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