The Soundtrack to accompany the Award winning Documentary "The Graceless Age: The Ballad Of John Murry". Written and performed by John Murry and Mike Timmins (Cowboy Junkies). The film has already won Best Irish Documentary at the 35th Galway Film Fleadh and will be premiering in the UK later this year. Directed by Sarah Share best known for her multi award winning ‘If I Should Fall from Grace’ - the Shane MacGowan Story.

"Ever since we finished recording A Short History of Decay back in 2016, I've been waiting for John Murry to return to my studio. I had been working on some ideas for the film score for John's doc when he finally reappeared. He had three days to kill in Toronto, so we decided to get together, sit around and play some music. No real plan and no real goal, just play and enjoy each other's company. This album is the result of that visit. It's a "sort-of" soundtrack album to the film, it contains some score pieces, as well as some of the solo recordings that John and I made when he was here in Toronto, some of which also became a part of the score" Mike Timmins.

This haunting film is the story of American singer songwriter John Murry, who was on the cusp of greatness after the release of his highly acclaimed album The Graceless Age (2013), when his world fell apart. Addicted to heroin and creatively exhausted, he washed up on the shores of Ireland, a broken man. Now, he retraces his steps back to Mississippi into the dark heart of American life and faces his demons- a neglected childhood, traumatic assault, and resulting years of opioid addiction.

John also explores his family links to the Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner. His adopted grandmother Mimi would tell him if anyone was imbued with the spirit of Bill Faulkner, it was John. She also told him that his famous ancestor was also addicted to opiates. Yet, throughout his long period of substance abuse he was constantly writing and performing. Like Faulkner, Murry's lyrics embrace the dark side of American life - an anger that is born in the rotting underbelly of Mississippi history. Reminiscent at times of Neil Young or Wilco, Murry's music is classic Americana.

This film chronicles his efforts to put it back together again after finding solace in Ireland and come to terms with his turbulent early years. John embarks on a road trip that takes him from his haven on the cliffs of Co Clare, Ireland to his native Mississippi and then his strung-out days in California. The film culminates with John travelling to Toronto to rekindle his creative collaboration with Canadian music legend Mike Timmins, who produced his second album, A Short History of Decay. Mike helps John express himself the best way he can - through his outstanding music. This beautiful documentary charts his journey from near death to redemption and a new zest for life and art. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Grace - Michael Timmins
2. Wrong Man - John Murry
3. Swamp - Michael Timmins
4. Silver Or Lead - John Murry
5. Driving (Part 1) - Michael Timmins & Peter Timmins
6. Dark Side Of The Moon Again - John Murry
7. Driving (Part 2) - Michael Timmins & Peter Timmins
8. Come Five And Twenty - John Murry
9. Cave - Michael Timmins
10. The Stars Are Gods Bullet Holes - John Murry
11. Alleyway - Michael Timmins
12. Mother Mary - John Murry 

John Murry’s third album is starlit and wondrous, like being wrapped in the softest black velvet. It’s an album of startling imagery and insinuating melodies, of cold moonlight and searing heat. It’s a record that penetrates to the very heart of you, searing with its burning honesty, its unsparing intimacy and its twisted beauty.

‘The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ is not an album for an ordinary world, because it’s not an ordinary album. It’s an album to dive deep into and submerge yourself in, and to emerge from aware that this world is a remarkable place, and that John Murry is a remarkable artist.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's a palpable sense of rock and roll groove on this one from Murry, with the fuzzy bass and power-chord riffs being wonderfully offset with surprisingly light vocal accompaniments from the backing singers. Dynamically intricate but surprisingly simple audio constructions perfectly displaying Murry's unmatched songcraft.

TRACK LISTING

1. Oscar Wilde (Came Here To Make Fun Of You)
2. Perfume & Decay
3. The Stars Are God's Bullet Holes
4. Di Kreutser Sonata
5. I Refuse To Believe (You Could Love Me)
6. Ones + Zeros
7. Time & A Rifle
8. Ordinary World
9. 1(1)1
10. Yer Little Black Book

John Murry was adopted at birth into the family of William Faulkner. Some have speculated that the Faulkner blood might also run in his veins, but that should be left for a Southern Gothic novel yet to be written (or perhaps re-written)..Raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, in the shadow of Elvis, his undiagnosed autism led to troubles at an early age which led to prescribed medication, which led to unprescribed medication which led to being institutionalised for addiction and mental health issues at a too young age. Eventually, discarded onto the streets of Memphis, he found music, which became the one constant positive force in his life. Memphis led to San Francisco and San Francisco led to heroin and heroin led to a near fatal overdose on the corner of 16th and Mission, so harrowingly memorialised in his song Little Coloured Balloons.

Music again came to his rescue and led him to Tim Mooney (American Music Club) and the group of musicians that helped create his 2012 masterpiece "The Graceless Age". The album was hailed by MOJO magazine and received a 5 out of 5 rating, UNCUT called it a "masterpiece", both magazines included it in their Top 10 albums of the year; American Songwriter put it in their Top 5 of the year and The Guardian included it in their best of the year as well. The accolades rolled in and John toured the world. He entranced and devastated audiences with his raw, unfiltered live performances, and it looked like his trajectory was set, that music had won and would have the final word. And then Tim Mooney, John’s mentor, his beacon, his bedrock, died suddenly and unexpectedly… and John’s world fell back in to chaos.

Over the next few years, John would lose the footing that he had struggled so hard to establish. He would lose his wife, his daughter, temporarily his freedom and ultimately his country. Somewhere along this volatile journey, John crossed paths with Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies . John had opened for the band at a show in Glasgow and Michael watched side-stage transfixed by John’s performance. Over the next few years the two of them kept in touch, they talked about the music business, politics, books, but most of all they talked about music. And they talked about making an album together.

Eventually John completed his descent and landed in Kilkenny, Ireland where he found some solid ground as part of a welcoming arts community. Michael then convinced him to travel to his Toronto studio where Michael put a band together consisting of brother Peter Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) on drums and Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers, Gord Downie, Lee Harvey Osmond) on bass. John brought along Cait O’Riordan (The Pogues, Elvis Costello) whom he had met in Ireland and who wanted to be a part of John’s journey. The five of them put aside five days to record all bedtracks and overdubs, with the brief that they would let the songs dictate where the journey took them, spontaneity was the order of the week. Michael Timmins describes the sessions, "I felt that it was important that John got out of his own way and that we set up a situation where he would just play and sing and the rest of us would just react, no second guessing, just react and capture the moment. It was a very inspired and inspiring week of playing and recording. Very intense. And I think we captured the raw essence of John’s writing and playing".

A Short History Of Decay is an intensely personal document of an artist’s fall from grace. It contains all the tragic elements of that unwritten Southern Gothic novel: the revelations of a man coming to terms with the personal shortcomings, the flaws and the perverse twists of fate that led him to the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Murry has always been known for his true life confessionals, and this outing is no different. Hard hitting rocking Americana anthems like 'Defacing Sunday Bulletins' and 'Under A Darker Moon' sit confortably alongside minimal acoustic odes like 'Wrong Man', or driven guitars and melancholic harmonies of 'Come Five & Twenty'. Lovely stuff all-round.

TRACK LISTING

1. Silver Or Lead
2. Under A Darker Moon
3. Wrong Man
4. Defacing Sunday Bulletins
5. When God Walks In
6. Come Five & Twenty
7. One Day (You’ll Die)
8. Countess Lola’s Blues (All In This Together)
9. Miss Magdalene
10. What Jail Is Like