Michael Martin Murphey is returning to Odessa and the Ector Theatre with “Cowboy Christmas.”
The famous country singer from Texas is bringing back his signature Christmas show for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Ector Theatre.
Tickets for the show can be purchased at tinyurl.com/yu8kcdfn.
In the past, Murphey performed numerous concerts at the Ector Theatre before it underwent renovations.
He returned last year for the first time in years with “Cowboy Christmas” and aims to come back each year.
“It’s great,” Murphey said. “We always love playing at the Ector Theatre. We used to play there a long time ago before it was remodeled. Every single time we came, it was such a great crowd. I think our crowd in Odessa understands what we’re talking about when we say cowboys Christmas. You come to West Texas, they know what we’re talking about.”
This vibrant holiday concert takes the form of a captivating multi-media production, featuring Murphey’s renowned “Rio Grande Band,” dramatic lighting, video as well as the use of western art, captivating master-artist photographs, breathtaking videos and cowboy poetry.
Murphey likes to use a poem when talking about “Cowboy Christmas.”
In that poem, he asks “what does a cowboy have to do with Christmas?
Turns out, a lot as Murphey sees parallels between cowboys and the shepherds from the bible who learned of the birth of Jesus.
“There’s a reason Christmas makes sense in regards to the cowboys because the first people who would get the news about the birth of Jesus were people watching livestock,” Murphey said. “It wasn’t politicians or preachers. Herdsman were people that were honored at the time to get the first news.”
After last year’s show in Odessa, coming back this year was a no-brainer for Murphey.
“I came back because of my experience from last year,” Murphey said. “I love the fact that the Ector Theatre is now next to the hotel where we stay. It’s really easy to navigate the whole thing. Most of all, I just like West Texas and this particular show. People understand what ‘Cowboy Christmas’ means. It’s about the most important icon in Texas and that is the cowboy. It’s our folk icon. It’s what we all relate to.”
Not only is Murphey looking forward to coming back to Odessa, he’s also excited to finally see his upcoming film “Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse” get released.
The film, which had its premier in Fort Worth a few weeks ago, will be released in theaters on Jan. 26.
“That’s my Christmas present this year,” Murphey said. “We’ve already had the premier in Fort Worth and it went over well. The house was packed and the reaction to it seemed to be really well.”
The title comes from Murphey’s 1975 hit “Wildfire.”
The film centers around a young girl named Samantha who deals with her guilt following the tragic death of her parents.
With the family facing financial ruin, the survivors move from Texas to Oklahoma to live with her grandmother on her horse farm outside of Tahlequah.
There, she finds peace from a mysterious wild horse.
Written and directed by Eric Parkinson (Future Shock), the film stars Chavel Shepherd (winner of NBC’s The Voice), Moses Brings Plenty (Yellowstone), Adrian Paul (Highlander) and Cara Jade Myers (Killers of the Flower Moon), among others.
Murphey not only appears in the film as one of the main characters but also provided the soundtrack for the film along with Travis Fite.
“I personally love the story, and the actors I worked with were about 40 percent Native Americans,” Murphey said. “We shot it all on the Cherokee lands up near Tahlequah, Okla.”
He believes the film will resonate with audience members in this part of the country.
“You’ve heard of horse rescue where humans rescue horses that are in trouble,” Murphey said. “This is the reverse of that. It’s not a story of horse rescue but human rescue by a horse just like how a horse rescues a person who’s having a hard time. It’s a story that people can relate to and love and it’s a contemporary story but it’s also a very spiritual story about how God can send something to you from beyond to help you through your troubles if you pray for it and ask for it.”
The film took four years to complete after being pushed back because of delays during COVID.
“The pandemic had an effect on it,” Murphey said. “It took two years out of our shooting schedule. But the time it took to actually make the film was probably about a year in total time. It just got delayed from COVID being on and COVID being off. But we got through it.”
The film was finished right before the SAG-AFTRA strike this past summer.
“We had to file as an independent production that had already been finished in order to get permission to release the film and we did get permission to release it,” Murphey said. “That helped us get distribution because there wasn’t a lot out there in our category. It’s a G-rated film for families.”
If you go
- What: Michael Martin Murphey’s “Cowboy Christmas.”
- When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15.
- Where: Ector Theatre.
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/yu8kcdfn
