JOHN MURRY'S SOUTHERN LITERATURE INSPIRATION COMES FROM ANCESTRY, SPECIFICALLY AS SECOND COUSIN TO WILLIAM FAULKNER

MURRY NAMED FOR FAULKNER'S GRANDFATHER, A CIVIL WAR SURGEON WHOSE MEDICAL KIT MURRY KEEPS

John Murry – who made the indie-noir album 'The Graceless Age,' one of the UK's best-reviewed albums of 2012 and out in the US April 2 on Evangeline Recording Co. – has described himself as more absorbed in the worlds of literature than in the day-to-day concerns of the modern world, and for good reason: he's second cousin to William Faulkner and has spent much time with his second cousin's works.

Murry says, "I am, in truth, named for his grandfather, my great-great-grandfather. My granddaddy, Charles 'Bo' Murry, is buried about ten feet from him in Oxford, MS, and was his pallbearer. My plot is paid for and is adjacent to it."

His namesake's story – and its relation to his novels - is enthralling and entertaining in itself. Murry explained to the blog Echoes& Dust, " John Young Murry and Col. W.C. Falkner appear as the amalgam that is Col. Sartoris in William Faulkner's writings. John Young Murry didn't use his Confederate title after the War. He was opposed to both slavery and secession until Yankee soldiers raided his home, took his family's Christmas meal, and did as they pleased with his land and family. He joined the fight to protect his home. He was a surgeon, though, and at Shiloh performed amputations on both Yankees and Rebels. Likely, in his mind, as Christ would've done. I've got the amputation kit he used under my bed and treasure it, nonetheless. I've been allowed the distance necessary to see The South as I needed to, I suppose."

After a firestorm of UK raves, John Murry's 'The Graceless Age' has been confirmed for a March 5 release on Evangeline Recording Co. It's the last album produced and recorded by Tim Mooney of American Music Club and Sun Kil Moon before his death June 13, produced – as all their records were - in collaboration with Murry. 'The Graceless age' is one of eight albums nominated for The UNCUT Music Award and praise has been effusive on the other side of the pond, where Murry is launching a winter tour that begins January 21. MOJO is planning an upcoming feature and Murry will perform on Ralph MacLean's BBC show as one of his "Best of 2012" artists and Ricky Ross' BBC Scotland show in front of a live audience at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall during the tour. The Sun gave it 5 stars out of 5, saying, "Occasionally, an album comes out of nowhere that completely blows your mind. Like this one… A genuine tour de force." In another 5 star (out of 5) review, R2 called it "a genuine American masterpiece." In a 9 star (out of 10) review, UNCUT's Senior Editor, Allan Jones, described the "deeply textured… ruined grandeur," continuing, "This is what 'The Graceless Age' as a whole does so unforgettably, bearing honest witness to a burning world." and went on to later call it "second only to Bob Dylan's Tempest" among best records of 2012.