The Woodlands Real Estate Blog

Michael Martin Murphey, who is known for his traditional cowboy songs, will headline the grand opening celebration for the New Creekside Park Village in The Woodlands.

Murphey's performance will be part of a three-hour long free concert at Rob Fleming Park. Attendees of the concert, which is being billed as ""Music from Kerrville - An outdoor family experience,"" will also see performances from Floyd Domino's all-star western swing band, Paul Glasse and Terri Hendrix. All of the performers have been regular performers at Kerrville Folk Festivals since the early 1970s. ""Music from Kerville has been a tradition in Texas for 37 years,"" said Susan Vreeland-Wendt, The Woodlands Development Company's director of marketing.

""What we did was get the founder of the festival, Rod Kennedy, and he's producing a show for us in The Woodlands."" Murphey started performing for the first time at the age of 16, playing a cowboy at the Sky Ranch in Lewisville.

From there he moved on to folk clubs and other small venues, trying his hand as a singer for the first time. Through the years that followed, he performed in several groups, first The Kingsmen and The Lost River Trio, and then moving on to California where he was member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

By 1968 he was back in Texas, and his solo act soon became part of the emerging music scene in Austin. Throughout the years, Murphey released 16 albums under the Epic music label, beginning with ""Geronimo's Cadillac."" He eventually had several songs move up the country music charts, including ""Wildfire"" in 1975, ""Carolina in the Pines"" a year later, ""Cherokee Fiddle"" in 1977 and ""What's Forever For"" in 1982.

A number of his songs have also been used by other big name country music singers over the years. The artists include John Denver, Johnny Lee, Kenny Rogers, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Lyle Lovett. In recent years, Murphey has been acclaimed for music in plays and movies.

The ""Music from Kerrville"" concert is part of the celebration for the Creekside Park Grand Opening. The events take place from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 20 in Rob Fleming Park.