Michael Martin Murphey’s 2021 album, ROAD BEYOND THE VIEW, is really not a Michael Martin Murphey album; it's a Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey album. It's a full collaboration of father and son. From the lyrics, melodies, arrangements, and instrumentation—the dynamic family duo brings their creativity to the project in equal parts. They also merge a little country with a whole lot of jazz, and the end result is something that feels fresh yet maintains a real sense of timelessness.

ROAD BEYOND THE VIEW is full of musical impressions of life in Northern New Mexico and a deep love for the culture and the artists who call the place home. The two Murphey men continue in the tradition of interpreting the exquisitely beautiful, yet often challenging, landscapes and cultures of the Southwest in music. The songs contained in this album are musical petroglyphs—with a goal of taking the local culture and making something enduring and universal of it.  

Inspired by the recent project “Outlaws and Armadillos” at in Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame — Murphey was interviewed for its accompanying film — Murphey decided to honor Austin music history in his own way too. Back in the 70’s, music in Austin was stripped down, bare bones country western music, usually on an acoustic instrument or two. There were a few clubs, and things were also really starting to pick up around the early ’70s.

Murphey and co-producer Chris Harris chose songs for this album, Murphey’s songs, that were from the era of 1968-1975, a time when a lot of musicians moved to to Nashville community, among them Willie Nelson, and things were beginning to thrive and grow. It’s mainly his own songs, with a couple by Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson too.

The songs are produced with a hushed style on clear toned acoustic guitars and vocals, with piano prominently present. The album maintains an overall air of nostalgic consistency. Murphey’s “Wildfire,” the ubiquitous country-western standard, lays the foundation for the style of the rest of the collection. “Alleys of Austin,” South Canadian River Song,” “Geronimo’s Cadillac,” and we’re off down memory lane, not only with Murphey’s catalog, but in the early Austin style too — soft rock, piano, acoustic guitar numbers telling detailed lyrical stories. “Texas Trilogy” — “Daybreak,” “Train Ride,” and “Bosque County” again evoke a moodiness and exemplary songwriting.

The collection highlights the now renowned Texas songwriting style, and the nostaliga for its good songwriting that plays in our collective unconsciousnesses.

--Melissa Clarke, "Americana Highways" review

In his review on the Allmusic web site, Jonathan Widran praised the album’s "warmth and familiarity" and the way the new recordings capture "the romance and adventurous Western spirit" of Michael's career.

“Listening to the songs on this disc is the musical equivalent of inviting a handful of old and dear friends over to dinner. They're a bit older and wiser since they were last seen, and the details of the stories they share have changed slightly with age, but their warmth and familiarity win listeners over instantly. More than simply an exciting greatest-hits project from one of contemporary music's most beloved and enduring artists, the collection features completely new recordings of 11 country, cowboy, and pop crossover classics that perfectly capture the romance and adventurous Western spirit of the singer/songwriter's 30-year recording career, including his best loved hits”