'OFF' AN UNUSUAL 'BODY' OF WORK.Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer James McMurtry James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American folk music singer-songwriter and the son of novelist Larry McMurtry. James' father gave him his first guitar at age seven. is an unusual singer-songwriter, a gentle, thoughtful troubadour troubadour One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, that flourished from the 11th through the 13th century, chiefly in Provence and other regions of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy. who writes songs that unfold like short stories. So it makes sense that the Grammy-nominated video for his album "Where'd You Hide the Body?" is also unusual. For starters, it's a rare long-form video with separate visual vignettes for each tune. And those vignettes were made by local college students working with an award-winning independent film director. A year ago, McMurtry's manager asked his friend, director Linda Feferman, if she would be interested in assembling students to contribute to a video for the singer. "It was a way of drawing attention to James at a level the record company might not give him," said Feferman. "I mean, he's not Michael Jackson Noun 1. Michael Jackson - United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958) Michael Joe Jackson, Jackson ."Although popular on the newly emerging network of adult-alternative rock radio stations, McMurtry, son of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Larry McMurtry Larry McMurtry (born June 3, 1936 in Wichita Falls, Texas) is a novelist, screenwriter and essayist. McMurtry is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1985 novel Lonesome Dove , is all but unheard of Not heard of; of which there are no tidings. Unknown to fame; obscure. - Glanvill. See also: Unheard Unheard elsewhere. Columbia Records liked the idea of promoting the folkie folk·ie also folk·y n. pl. folk·ies 1. A folk singer or musician. 2. One who is an enthusiast of folk music. adj. musician with an inexpensive student work, and lent $30,000 to the project. Feferman then asked students at University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission and California Institute of the Arts California Institute of the Arts known as CalArts U.S. private institution of higher learning in Valencia. Created in 1961 through the merger of two other art institutes, it was the first in the U.S. in Valencia to submit treatments for video versions of various songs and selected 11 budding filmmakers to participate. One of those selected was K.C. Amos of Sherman Oaks, son of actor John Amos ("Good Times," "Roots"). K.C. Amos, who graduated with a master's degree from CalArts last June, created a western-esque video for the song "Off and Running." Amos incorporated into the video parts of a short film he made as a thesis project. The film starred his father as an African-American cowboy. By using images from the short film, Amos brought expensive-looking location and action shots to an otherwise low-budget three-minute music video, said Feferman. "I didn't think we had the means to do a western in video," she said. "Selecting K.C. proved an unexpected fringe benefit." Amos said he grew up on his mother's ranch in Saugus, and he liked the touches of country in McMurtry's music. An avid runner, he also connected with the theme of "Off and Running." "At CalArts, I used to run down the halls because I figured if I ran, I could save enough time to make three times as many films. So, when I heard that song, I felt inspired." Amos said he will be attending the Grammy awards with his fingers crossed, as will the other students and Feferman. "We're all very excited," Feferman said. Indeed, Amos didn't quite believe it when he heard the video had earned a Grammy nomination in a category with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. "My mom called me at 7 a.m. the day of the nominations. She had read about it in the newspaper. I thought it must have been a misprint mis·print tr.v. mis·print·ed, mis·print·ing, mis·prints To print incorrectly. n. An error in printing. . So I said, 'OK, Mom. We'll check it out.' So I went to 7-Eleven and read it for myself. I couldn't believe it." CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo K.C. Amos and Linda Feferman worked on the Grammy-nominated long-form video "Off and Running." Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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