There’s a song on Kacey Musgraves’ new album Middle of Nowhere called “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy,” which pokes fun at bargoers on “the East Side” who like to dress the part of a cowboy or cowgirl while never doing a day of ranch work in their lives. (I, in my Tecovas boots that have never seen the inside of a barn or stable, felt very called out.) Cowboy cosplay is nothing new, but it’s not something Musgraves or her fellow Texan Michael Martin Murphey could ever be accused of. Murphey, who cut his teeth on his grandpa’s ranch and was raised on the songs and stories of the old-timers who worked the land, is one of the great keepers of the cowboy song tradition. Known for his songs “Wildfire,” “Carolina in the Pines” and more, Murphey has devoted his career to preserving cowboy songs and poetry. On Friday, the singer-songwriter will bring that treasured storytelling tradition to Harken Hall for a special evening of music and memories from the Cosmic Cowboy himself.
7 p.m. at Harken Hall
514 Madison Station Blvd., Madison
