The Murray Bar in Livingston isn’t just a place to wet your whistle; the establishment also offers live music up to four nights a week, and features local musicians as well as national acts touring the area.

The Murray Bar has been part of the downtown scene in Livingston for over a century. Sporting a western decor and the warm glow of wood from the ceiling to the floorboards, with an atmosphere that’s easy on the soul and a dance floor that’s easy on the feet, the bar has always been a popular gathering place for locals. One wall in the place features the Murray Bar Flies, a pictoral homage to some of the Livingston area’s cast of characters, done by local artist Michael Simon. Though he’s not featured on the wall, Jimmy Buffett reportedly sang and played his guitar for tips in the Murray Bar in the early 1970s, when a wave of writers and artists began to make the Livingston area home. The establishment still attracts its share of the famous lying low in the windy town along the Yellowstone.

It also attracts quite an array of local musicians. Southwest Montana bands with a country bent, such as Little Jane and the Pistol Whips and The Dirty Shame, tend to pack the place when they perform. Rock-leaning musicians do well there too--before they disbanded last year, The Fossils, Livingston’s favorite hippy/jam band, were regulars on the Murray stage. National acts also meander into the Murray--two months ago, despite November winter weather that was downright dangerous, Corb Lund packed the place on the last leg of his 2014 tour.

February’s lineup of musicians showcases the wide variety of live music offered up at the Murray Bar. Dan Dubuque gets the ball rolling on the Murray stage on Wednesday, Feb 3. Dubuque, called one of Montana’s great treasures by the Northwest Artist Syndicate, performs a free-wheeling, one-man act showcasing his mastery of the Weissenborn slide guitar, as well as the ukelele, charango, and electric and acoustic guitars. The five members of www.twang hit the stage on the 5th with their renditions of “real” country and western tunes, and Quenby and the West of Wayland Band bring more country sounds to the Murray on the 6th.
Jay Alm brings the tunes to the Murray the following Wednesday (the 11th): referred to by reverbnation.com as “an amalgamation of acoustic oddball rock’n’roll and rootsy, lyrical meanderings,” this show should prove to be a good one. On Friday the 13th, Bozeman’s Petty Band wanders over the hill to perform, putting their own touch on the hard-driving sounds of the Tom Petty Band, and on Saturday, Bozeman’s Bird Dogs bring their folksy bluegrass sounds to the Murray.

On Wednesday the 18th Helena singer-songwriter Dan Henry hits the stage, followed on Friday by the juke joint blues sounds of Smokestack and the Foothill Fury out of Butte, and Saturday it’s a Missoula band’s turn to entertain, as Ticket Sauce performs their funky sounds for the Murray crowd.

The last week of February is a busy one musically at the Murray. Paul Lee Kupfer of The Bus Driver Tour starts the fun on Wednesday the 25th, returning to perform in one of his favorite necks of the woods. On Thursday, World’s Finest, out of Portland, Oregon, brings reggae, ska, and funk to the fore, and on Friday, the Driftwood Grinners of Big Sky will be pickin’ and grinnin’ for the gang. One Leaf Clover closes out the action for February at the Murray on Saturday with their own “mountain boogie rock--equal parts country and funk, rock and reggae, music and mountains.”

Music kicks off at 9 p.m. at the Murray Bar located at 201 W. Park Street in Livingston. As February’s lineup demonstrates, there is something for everyone’s ear at the Murray.