James McMurtry

Written by Brad Wagner

James McMurtry joined us for a session high above the Tønder Festival, inside the town's eight-story water tower (Tønder Vandtårn), a landmark attached to the Kunstmuseet i Tønder. The tallest structure in town, the tower offered a bird’s-eye view of the streets of Tønder, Denmark and the festival below, and a perfect setting for McMurtry’s session. Reverberant as anywhere we’ve ever recorded, no need to add reverb in the mix.

At the time of our visit, the museum was showcasing a collection of Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner’s iconic chairs. Wegner's work has deep ties to Tønder, and several of his chairs were displayed across the upper floors of the tower.

McMurtry performed two songs during the session, opening with “Sons of the Second Sons,” from his 2025 album, The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. He followed with “If It Don't Bleed,” from 2021's The Horses and the Hounds.

Recorded live on August 27, 2026.

00:00 - “Sons of the Second Sons”
05:31 - “If It Don't Bleed”

Audio by Juan M Soria
Video by Brad Wagner

James McMurtry: https://www.jamesmcmurtry.com/
Tønder Festival: https://tf.dk/en
Kunstmuseet i Tønder: https://msj.dk/kunstmuseet-i-toender/
Folk SPOT Denmark: https://folkspotdenmark.dk/
A/V Production: https://www.iknowweshould.com/

Brad Wagner

Brad grew up in San Francisco back when Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were the kings of the universe. In his teens and early twenties he bounced around the country from Northern Michigan to Wyoming, ski-bumming between Jackson Hole and Lake Tahoe before returning to SF to produce sports entertainment TV shows including Fog City Wrestling and SF Bay Bombers Roller Derby. In 2012 he moved to NYC to work as a transfer engineer at Wolfgang's Vault where he digitized thousands of hours of live concerts by the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and loads more. He reshaped that job into a 7-year stint at Paste Magazine where he produced over 2,000 livestreaming sessions with artists like Steve Martin, Phoebe Bridgers, and Sting. After Paste, he partnered with audio engineer Juan Soria to form I Know We Should, a 2-man wrecking crew specializing in live sessions. Brad Wagner is good fun at a dinner party. Brad Wagner is a pair of 80-proof clown shoes.

https://www.iknowweshould.com/
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