James McMurtry is a man of mystery.

James McMurtry’s brand of country music skews farther West than usual; and he performs with a literary bent, thanks to his dad, author Larry McMurtry. Courtesy James McMurtry

The Texas country musician acts, performs and generates a little hell, yet his music remains a relic that is hard to find.

Like his father Larry — known for books and scripts like “The Last Picture Show,” “Lonesome Dove” and “Brokeback Mountain — McMurtry can tell a story through his music.

“I think [my father] mostly influenced me by the things he listened to,” McMurtry said, “There were records all over the house — he wasn’t an audiophile but he would always have some kind of record player.”

The music he became acquainted with through his father included Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff and eventually Bob Dylan.

“He got into Dylan a long time before I did,” McMurtry said. “I didn’t care for Dylan as a kid. I thought he sang funny.”

Though McMurtry moved to Austin by way of Virginia, his music mysteriously fits in with the Texas country scene, which is no holds barred and contains blunt lyrics.

McMurtry said his songs are as likely to be set in Maryland as Texas; but the rambling man in him makes it all add up — and his material follows a mysterious form, with inspiration coming from random places.

“My process is that I’ll write a couple of lines and a melody,” he said. “If it’s cool enough to keep me up at night, I’ll finish it.”

One song titled “Choctaw Bingo” was made up while driving through back-roads in Oklahoma and Kansas, and was done as a writing exercise.

“In Durant, Okla. there was Choctaw Bingo [which] was a bingo parlor and now it’s Choctaw Casino — it don’t even have the word ‘Bingo’ in it anymore. It’s huge,” McMurtry said.

A major thing he noticed while writing the song was that the town of Baxter Springs, Kan. had a lingerie store next to a biker bar — and across the street from a baptist church.

That irony is echoed in McMurtry’s relationship with his father and mother — who have both played key roles with his life in entertainment.

But one artist in particular made him want to play.

“I saw Kris Kristofferson’s band when I was about nine years old,” McMurtry said. “They seemed to be having such a good time that I figured it would be something I’d want to do.”

His mother was the one who taught him how to play guitar and McMurtry has acted in some of his father’s movies, including playing the character of Jimmy Rainey in the “Lonesome Dove” series.

“I nearly got ran over by a wagon in that movie, because when we were rehearsing it, they didn’t tell me the wagon was going to be rolling,” he said.

McMurtry’s mystery does not end there, he took part in recording the soundtrack of John Mellencamp’s film “Falling From Grace,” with Mellencamp, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine and Joe Ely.

“That is how I met John because my dad wrote the script for [his movie],” McMurtry said. “A bunch of us got together and we were singing along to some of John’s outtakes off of some of his records”

Much of his studio memories have to do with Yoakam, who would go on to be in the movies “Sling Blade,” “Wedding Crashers” and “Crank.”

“Yoakam was kind of like a nonstop comedy act, he would act out whole movies,” McMurtry said. “He acted out a strange little movie called ‘Pocket Money’ and Yoakam pretty much acted out one whole scene. I ended up renting the movie a couple of months later and Yoakam’s version was funnier than the movie itself.”

McMurtry’s shows can be wild and unpredictable — and often mired in controversy.

During a tour through Utah, a sticker on his guitar said “I heart Mormon p***y,” which angered those who came out.

“It really did a weird vibe on the places I was playing,” McMurtry said. “Some of the guys would get more predatory and aggressive towards the women I was playing with, so I took it off and it went away.”

But fans can expect a strong, driven performance, complete with country boy know-how and the mystery of what to anticipate.

After all, the last time he played in Athens, the South was going through a gas shortage — and the unpredictable scenes it caused have stuck with him.

“It looked like ‘Lord of the Flies,’” McMurtry said. “Paranoid as I am I just assume it’s some kind of intentional social experiment to see what would happen if you deprive Americans of something they want right now.”

JAMES MCMURTRY

Where: Georgia Theatre

When: 8 p.m.

Price: $15