You heard the “Intro” here last week — now click here to download this thing in full. For. Free.

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James McCurtry might not be a name on par with, say, fellow Texans Lyle Lovett or Steve Earle, but the singer/songwriter and bad-ass guitarist is still a revered act in the Americana world. McCurtry’s latest album, the outstandingly incendiary, darkly humorous, wonderfully emotive and rustically rocking Just Us Kids, has garnered glowing write-ups in glossies such as Blender, Mojo and Entertainment Weekly, the latter of which showered the disc with superlatives like “brilliant,” “hilarious” and “poignant” in giving it an A- grade. Just Us Kids is selling, too. It has reached a very respectable No. 18 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart.

So it’s surprising when I’m given McMurtry’s mobile phone number and instructed to ring him in the afternoon. Any afternoon. Easy as that, the PR person says. But I’m skeptical. Usually when dealing with an artist of McMurtry’s status there’s a set time, date and minute count to which, you, the interviewer, are supposed to stick. Twenty minutes is the norm.

I dial the digits and hear a gruff “hello” that could only be James McMurtry’s. “Give me a moment to pull over,” he says. “I’ve got a manual transmission.” He steers his automobile into a nearby parking lot to grant an interview on a recent Tuesday afternoon. McMurtry has been driving around his hometown of Austin, running the same mundane errands you or I might conduct on an off day. He good-naturedly refers to the interview as just another duty after I apologize for interrupting his daily routine.

The Americana music icon speaks slowly. His voice is deep. His answers are straightforward and marked by an economy of words - and a drawl that reflects both his native Virginia and decades spent in the Lone Star State. You get the sense he’s incapable of feeding you bullshit, and it’s the same way with his music. Whether recounting the machinations of a crystal meth cooker in the fan favorite “Choctaw Bingo,” or telling me how his world-famous father Larry McMurtry’s one shortcoming as a novelist/screenwriter is that “he always gets firearms wrong,” the younger McMurtry’s words smack of integrity.

James McMurtry’s recording career launched in 1989 with the excellent roots-rock offering Too Long in the Wasteland. John Mellencamp, who discovered McMurtry, produced the disc and got his protégé signed to Columbia. Wasteland contains the single “Painting by Numbers,” a catchy heartland pop tune with a deliciously cynical lyric that borders on nihilism. “You might get to thinking you’re ahead of the game,” McMurtry deadpans. “But when you break it all down, it all comes out the same.” The song reached No. 33 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks survey. Not bad - but not great, especially by major label standards. McMurtry would release two more full-lengths on Columbia before being handed a pink slip after 1995’s Where’d You Hide the Body.

Like so many singer/songwriters whose music is - to be blunt - too damn smart and literate for widespread consumption, McMurtry re-emerged as a star on the Americana scene when he signed with venerable independent label Sugar Hill for 1997’s It Had to Happen. He’s spent the past decade in the indie ranks, a big fish in a small pond, as they say. When I ask artists in his position if they prefer the smaller labels to the behemoths, I usually receive a stock answer about how he or she enjoys the artistic freedom, personalized attention et al offered by the boutique imprints. Not McMurtry. “You always want to be on the majors,” he says dryly. “But majors aren’t signing people like me. They’re signing American Idols.

“The majors, they got more money, more infrastructure, they’re their own machine. With them, you’re gonna get on Letterman. You might not make out financially initially. But you’ll ultimately make more headway if you work hard. When I was on Columbia, you come into town, people know you’re coming.”

That candor comes through in McMurty’s detailed character sketches. The somber title track to Just Us Kids opens with the lines: “I’ve had enough of this small town bullshit/ I’m not stayin’ in school/ I’m makin’ good dough workin’ with my brother/ Cleanin’ out pools.” The song sympathetically chronicles a couple buddies’ progression from young, wild hell-raisers to middle-aged men relegated to reliving their glory days over cans of beer. “Just us kids hangin’ out today,” McMurtry sings wistfully. “Watchin’ our long hair turnin’ gray.”

The song takes its inspiration from McMurty observing the behavior of his teenage son. “I typically come up with a couple lines and melody and eventually come up with a character that says those lines,” McMurtry explains. “I had some lines and noticed my son and all his friends, none care about automobiles the way my friends did. We saw them as freedom and forms of self-expression. They just see cars as means of getting round.

“With any song, if it’s cool enough to keep me up at night, I finish the song,” McMurtry continues. “Having a preconceived idea about what you want to say is a good way to kill a song. That’s why political songs are tricky; sometimes a song doesn’t want to say what you set out to say.”

Political songs can also be misinterpreted. McMurtry learned that lesson the hard way with “Cheney’s Toy,” one of several politically charged numbers on Just Us Kids. Anyone who listens to the lyrics and has occasionally perused the newspaper during the past eight years should most certainly ascertain that the titular toy is Dubya - not one of our young men or women risking his or her limbs and life in Iraq or Afghanistan. The songwriter has stopped performing the gripping protest number, though, due to listeners being offended by an anti-soldier message that he’s clearly not making. “In that particular case, it was frustrating,” McMurtry says. “In general, it’s very easy for political songs to become sermons. You get known for that and no one listens. You have to be careful.”

James McMurtry: “Choctaw Bingo (live)”

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Top 10: Vacation songs

1. Vacation, The Go-Go’s
2. Holiday Road, Lindsey Buckingham
3. Fish and Whistle, John Prine
4. Too Much of Nothing, Bob Dylan and the Band
5. It’s My Lazy Day, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
6. Situation Vacant, The Kinks
7. Lazy Days, The Byrds
8. One Big Holiday, My Morning Jacket
9. Home Sweet Home, Breaux Freres
10. Another Sunny Day, Belle & Sebastian

The Go-Go’s — Vacation

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Monday’s choice tidbits are few and far between, but duty, as they say, calls. And my post-Thanksgiving gift to you: No Star Trek or Watchmen updates.

Black Friday, indeed: Steve Guttenberg says sequels to Police Academy and Three Men and a Baby are in the works. Ha, ha, good one, Steve. Seriously, stop kidding around. No, really. Shut the fuck up.

Joss Whedon ready to bring Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to the big screen.

Hold on to your hormones, ladies: Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are respective adversaries John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, a Cream Team pairing sure to keep theater ushers everywhere on “moist-seat alert.” Have your canisters of talcum powder ready, boys!

Tom Tykwer’s The International is set to open next year’s 59th Annual Berlin Film Festival. Normally I wouldn’t post this kind of Eurocentric fare, but Tykwer’s Run Lola Run is one of my favorite films, and with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts starring, I can’t wait to get a look at this. (Unless, of course, the buzz is really bad, in which case I’ll slam the film sight unseen.)

And finally, some strong Oscar buzz is swirling around Clint Eastwood’s performance in the upcoming Gran Torino.

See, I told you there’d be no Star Trek or Watchmen. Have a great Monday.

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Monte Kiffin headed to Tennessee?

Ed. note: This post comes courtesy of Eric Snider and The Daily Loaf.

If ever there was a game that underscores the importance of turnovers, it was the Bucs’ win over the Saints. The Saints offense outgained the Bucs 332-254. Saints QB Drew Brees looked imposing most of the game, going 25-47 for 296 yards and two touchdowns. But Brees three three interceptions, all of them at crucial points in the second half (including one that set up the winning Bucs field goal, and another that ended the Saints’ comeback chance).

By contrast, Bucs QB Jeff Garcia was a fairly pedestrian 9 for 23 for 119 yards and one touchdown. He did not, however, throw an interception. (Garcia helped his cause immensely by rushing seven times for 42 yards, including a couple of key runs.) The Bucs only turnover was an early fumble by WR Michael Clayton, who was stripped in the first quarter. The Saints couldn’t turn it into points, though, giving the ball back after a 4th down play.

Ronde Barber continued his redemption effort with another good game, including a tipped ball that led to a key interception by Cato June. Barber was called for holding on Jeremy Shockey, which nullified a Bucs interception. The play looked to me, and I’m assuming pretty much everyone who calls themselves a Bucs fan, that Barber merely held his ground and Shockey ran into him.

A top candidate for Bucs game MVP was Saints RB Reggie Bush. He dropped several passes and, on punt returns, did his Dexter Jackson act by running backwards and sideways (and losing a ton of yardage).

Bucs returner Clifton Smith had another really good day running straight ahead, and — yeah! — he didn’t fumble.

Great to see RB Carnell Williams score a touchdown on an eight yard run where he went wide and beat the Saints D to the pylon. He showed a good burst on the play. I was against activating Williams when he became eligible, but it now looks like a good move, especially with Earnest Graham out for the season.

A couple of pregame reports said that Monte Kiffin, the Bucs stalwart defensive coordinator, will join his son Lane’s staff next season when Lane takes the helm at University of Tennessee. The items, by two respected reporters, said it was a done deal. Monte signed a new contract with the Bucs this year for a reported $2 million annually, making him one of the highest paid coordinators in the NFL. He’s have to take a major pay cut to switch to the Volunteers, but at 68 Kiffin might just be inclined to finish his career with his son in the college ranks. From the Bucs standpoint, that would, uh, suck.

Let me finish with a Super Bowl prediction that runs a little against the grain of the high-profile prognosticators.

Patriots vs. Cowboys

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The process is simple: just upload you recipes (with a picture if you have one), tag them into sections, title your masterpiece and pay the $19.95 (plus shipping). The resulting cookbook has the classic Betty Crocker look, with a hard cover, labeled tabs delineating sections and full-color, ringbound pages.

You can also share recipes with the Tastebook community, pull recipes from its database for your cookbook, or order Tastebooks created by other people — some of them recognized chefs like the editors of Epicurious, Cooking Light or Food & Wine.

In these days of throw-away, consumable crap, a personalized cookbook like this is the kind of thing that people will hold onto for generations. If your recipes are any good, that is.

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— Does your thirst need equalizing? A Sarasota businessman’s got the solution.

— Representative Vern Buchanan might have crushed his opposition in his bid to retain his District 13 House seat, but those pesky lawsuits (11 in total) keep hanging around.

— Sarasota plots a couple new downtown roundabouts.

— Those roundabouts are probably just one of the issues new Downtown Partnership Executive Director Debra Torres will be taking up as part of her gig.

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It’s 2 a.m. on a Friday night. Most years, the party at New College would just be getting started. Not this year. These days, New College’s public parties, known to students as “walls,” are starting, and ending, early.

As tonight’s wall winds down, equipment technicians wait for one last song to play out before they pack up the student government-owned speakers. A few students linger in Palm Court, the Mecca of New College social life. Most, though, simply finish off what’s in their red cups and slink back to their dorms.

New College President Gordon “Mike” Michalson scaled back wall hours late last September as a temporary security measure after a nonaffiliated visitor assaulted a student. Curtailed party hours may sound like a small sacrifice, but for many at the school, the lack of student input in the decision is only the latest in a string of controversies that have some going as far as to say that it’s the end of New College as they know it.

In mid-October, Ben Reinhold received a letter. It told the second-year student to report to student affairs within three days, but didn’t say why.

When Reinhold met with Associate Dean Tracy Murray, he was told that three weeks prior, Resident Director J. Goodrich had filed a report claiming Reinhold had been drinking a handle of Jack Daniel’s in public. At the time of the incident, Goodrich did not confiscate the liquor or confront Reinhold. Reinhold says he has no way of remembering where he was that night, and claims he’s never seen a handle of Jack in his life.

Ultimately, it was his word against Goodrich’s. In a hearing before a judicial board created just this year, Reinhold pled his case. Goodrich was out of town at the time, but the board, composed of students and faculty, nevertheless decided to go ahead.

The board’s standard of proof demands a “preponderance of evidence” that demonstrates that “more likely than not” an infraction occurred. It ruled unanimously that Reinhold had more incentive to lie than Goodrich, and was therefore responsible. He received only a warning, but was told that he was liable to receive a more severe punishment if he appealed the ruling.

“It was the testimony of one woman who refused to appear,” Reinhold says. “I just felt betrayed by the students. The administration wants to show that they are catching minors with alcohol, so they were biased.”

Goodrich, for her part, feels the proceeding was fair. “It’s not about punishment; it’s about learning opportunities,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to grow, so I don’t understand why that’s such an awful thing, even if someone feels like they have been unjustly charged.”

Many students agreed with Reinhold — his attempts to raise the standard of proof required for the judicial board to rule against students, and to shorten the amount of time that can pass before an incident is brought to the board’s attention were met with widespread support at a student government meeting.

When I took on a position in student government in 2006, I was convinced that improved communication could repair increasingly tense relations between students and the administration. Yet we found ourselves in disagreement with administrators again and again. We voiced opposition to the installation of a swipe-card system in five new dorms, the establishment of official quiet hours and proposed changes to the student code of conduct. Our success varied from case to case, but each time, students felt the values that make New College special — openness, independence, fairness — were at stake.

By far the biggest controversy of the year centered on the move-in date assigned for returning students in the fall of 2007. A rearranged academic calendar eliminated the weekend between returning students’ arrival and the start of classes. When students objected, Dean of Students Wendy Bashant held firm, and cited three major concerns: Construction of new dorms was running late, the extra day would put a hardship on staff and first-year students needed a minimum of four days to adjust to their new environment on their own.

Many students felt Bashant’s concerns very easily addressed, and were particularly offended at the perceived suggestion that upperclassmen would somehow corrupt freshmen. The idea that students are best able to regulate themselves — and that attempts at supervising them will only push substance abuse out of sight — is at the heart of many students’ vision of New College culture.

The conflict escalated as it took on symbolic value. Students had their parents call the college to complain, and wrote letters to anyone with an address. When the same schedule was repeated this past fall, graduating seniors pledged to not donate money to the college until the situation was resolved. Nasty anti-Bashant graffiti appeared on sidewalks around campus. Ultimately, students resorted to sit-ins outside of the president’s office.

Students were eventually allowed the extra 24 hours, but Bashant, for her part, stands by her initial rationale. She points to the four EMT visits to campus the weekend before classes started. “That signifies four close calls,” she says, stressing that her primary concern is always students’ safety.

Bashant’s worries about liability and security are very much a reality. To qualify for federal support, New College must enforce a code of conduct, and college administrators can potentially face criminal charges for failing to prevent students from binge drinking. Fights and sexual harassment occur all too often at walls, and the number of students who don’t make it to their sophomore year is worrisome: 13 percent of 2006’s incoming class did not return for their second year.

Goodrich, in her first semester at New College, says that while she can sympathize with arguments for self-regulation, the new rules are about genuinely helping students. “I act out of student interest,” she says, adding that “a level of discretion” has been lost among students. “I think that the only thing we are really cracking down on is almost a level of disrespect. We are still pushing for self-regulation and hoping students will self-regulate.”

Director of Student Activities and ’95 New College alum Konnie Kruczek says student complaints about administration policies are nothing new. Her class had its share of sit-ins too. “We had a bunch of reasons,” she says. “Walls were shut down because of noise complaints. … We felt we weren’t being included in policy decisions.”

To a certain extent, dissatisfied students acknowledge that some changes are inevitable, given New College’s growing prestige. Nonetheless, developments in recent years have exasperated many students. Some, like myself, have grown apathetic and moved off campus. Others are committed to keeping their vision of the school alive — whether that means taking disputes to President Michalson or the Board of Trustees, staging hardball protests to prove they mean business, or working with administrators to resolve communication problems. “There are changes coming in policy whether we like it or not,” third-year Alex Cline wrote in a student forum post. “We can either try and get in on the ground floor on it and make them work for us fairly and non-intrusively, or we can just sit around and scream about it.”

It might sound like an idle debate, but for some students, New College as they know it hangs in the balance.

Photo courtesy of Paul Maneval.

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Galileo Ristorante

3.5 stars

443 Burns Court, Sarasota, 927-9600 or eataliana.com.

Galileo has been part of the Sarasota dining scene for seven years, but you might not know it. Sure, this fine-dining Italian spot has a cadre of committed regulars, but the restaurant’s former location kept it largely out of public view. Boatyard Plaza — just east of the south bridge to Siesta Key, home to Coasters and little else — is a dead zone for many locals. “It was great for the first two to three years,” explains head server Alex Earl, “a bustling little area. Then, one by one, the shops began moving out.”

To be successful, Galileo had to follow suit.

A few months ago, when Uva Rara closed and its primo downtown spot in Burns Court went on the market, Galileo’s chef/owner Tom Harvey saw his opportunity. Central location. Historic building. Large outdoor patio. It didn’t take much thought before he signed the lease and called in the moving trucks.

The move has worked out well for a number of reasons. Since Uva Rara and Galileo had similar culinary bents, there was an easy transition for Burns Court diners. Galileo’s regulars – many of whom made the long drive from Longboat Key – are happy with the shorter commute. And Harvey’s accomplished Italian cooking is creating a whole new group of regulars who never would have cruised into the Boatyard.

Most of Harvey’s menu is classic Italian garnered from his mom’s Sicilian family and the upstate New York Italian community he grew up in, filtered through a classical education at the Culinary Institute of America and a stint as the executive chef for the House of Representatives. The result is refined food that manages an occasional rustic blast of flavor.

Like in Galileo’s penne con salsiccia ($15.95), which looks like a typical bowl of pasta and red sauce studded with tiny bits of sausage. In the mouth, it’s a revelation, redolent of sage and spice, the homemade sausage adding a luxurious richness to the San Marzano tomato sauce. This is one of those dishes that’s difficult to share. Hell, it’s difficult to stop yourself from ordering a second bowl.

A special of ribeye alla fiorentina ($28.95) seems similarly innocuous at first glance: steak, fried onions, not much to it. But it’s ideally cooked, the surface crusted with an herb and spice blend caramelized by high heat, the interior rosy red and pillow-soft. That rub is what makes it truly special, though, filling each bite with accents of rosemary and spicy heat, just enough to accent the luscious meat.

Easily the best steak I’ve had this year.

The rest of the menu is just as accomplished, but without the flashes of greatness present in those two dishes. Lobster ravioli ($11.95) is tasty but standard, with a restrained sauce that relies more on cream than fresh flavors. Surprisingly sweet dressing laced with a touch of smoky bacon douses Galileo’s spinach salad ($8.50). In shrimp and blue crab pasta ($18.95), the shellfish is almost overwhelmed by a tomato broth loaded with dried herbs.

Galileo’s duck ($22.95) is picture perfect, a fan of identical slices of medium rare breast lined by slender strips of almost-crisp skin around a pile of sauteed spinach that’s a bit overcooked. The accompanying peppercorn sauce lacks peppery bite, but the reduced balsamic is a good match with the rich meat.

One of Galileo’s signature dishes is a hanger steak crusted in gorgonzola and breadcrumbs ($22.95), recently pimped by Judi Gallagher on her cable access show. I’m less of a fan. The steak is almost unseasoned, probably to compensate for the mass of herb and salt in the topping, but that means that the meat can’t compete. All you taste in every bite is garlic, salty crumbs and blue cheese that’s become oddly dried out by time under the broiler. You might as well leave the steak off the dish.

And when Harvey gives the same treatment that made me such a fan of his ribeye to a slab of tuna ($26.95), it doesn’t have the same impact. The fish ends up a bland lump that never gains the subtle influence of spice and herb. The success of those two sublime dishes I mentioned earlier, however, more than compensates for a few missteps, especially considering the quality of the rest of the food.

The atmosphere helps, too. Inside the converted 1920s house are cozy dining rooms packed with tables and plushly cushioned chairs. There’s an enclosed patio overlooking the theater across the lane, and the cobbled courtyard complete with burbling fountain is a great spot for temperate times. The servers are knowledgeable, speedy and give the feeling that they actually like working at Galileo, that they’re invested in its success.

Once a few more people discover this old restaurant in its new digs, and get a taste of Harvey’s occasionally exquisite cuisine, I don’t think they’ll have anything to worry about.

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Pedro Arévalo, 32, could be called the bass player of Sarasota. Odds are, if you’re out and about and you see someone plunking away, it’s Pedro.

How many bands do you play with around town?

My father has a band called The Acoustic Pete Blues Trio, which despite its name, ranges from four to 10 people. He also has a bluegrass group called Swamp Grass. I have a flamenco group I’ve worked with for many years called The Lotus Fire. I’ll have a project with my brother starting December called Los Mosquitoes. I’ll be playing a few Saturday evenings at the Oyster Bar under my own name. I’ve been playing also with Rastus Kain; he’s a prominent blues guitarist that’s been in the area off and on for decades. The main groups I play with are not local though. Dickey Betts (of the Allman Brothers) lives here in town. I’ve been his bassist for the past five years. We did two tours in Europe over the summer. … Aside from that, I’ve been playing slide guitar with Greg Allman’s son, Devin Allman. The band is called Honey Tribe. We also did a tour of Europe this summer as well. I suppose I’m on the road between 200 and 250 days a year.

What’s your favorite type of music?

I like variety. I played in a number of West African groups when I lived in Boston. I got to travel with them to Africa. I played in a salsa group around town called the Vine Street Rumba Band. I love blues, country-blues, and all kind of hillbilly music like bluegrass. I love jazz, just improvisation. I consider myself an improviser. That’s my profession.

Do you have any advice for the Sarasota music scene?

It’s a tough scene. There’s plenty of work, but most of them don’t want to hear a lot about original music. Pandering to the tourist is the nature of the game. It’s nice downtown having the luxury to play foreign music. There’s a nice international interest, even on Lido and St. Armand’s you can get away with it. On Siesta it’s much more difficult, they want to hear Buffett. My advice is not to give in to the bars and do what you need to do to gratify yourself. Otherwise, everyone will be playing Jimmy Buffett at every venue.

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