Happy Friday everyone! We’re in for a little weather this weekend, in case you hadn’t heard. Of course in the Flathead, with its varied topography, how we experience weather is very much relative to location.

If you happen to be above 6,000 feet (that includes Logan Pass), you could be in for up to a foot of snow from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. In general, the National Weather Service in Missoula is expecting wet, heavy snow above 5,000 feet, and a chance that snow levels briefly lower to 4,000 feet late Saturday night into Sunday morning.

At lower elevations north and northeast of Flathead Lake, this weekend’s weather is expected to bring over a quarter inch of rain through Sunday, with a 50% chance those areas see 1.5 inches or more of rain through Sunday evening. Highs Saturday and Sunday in Kalispell are expected to top out in the mid to upper 50s.

I think I’ll survive, but it does make the idea of whiling away the time indoors with a book or a movie seem especially appealing. At the top of my book stack right now is “City of Thieves,” a short 2009 novel by “Game of Thrones” TV show co-creator David Benioff. Set during the Nazi siege of Stalingrad, it’s proven so far to be an engaging read with a dark sense of humor appropriate for its grim backdrop. The novel is about two young Soviet men tasked with navigating the besieged city to secure a dozen eggs for a colonel intent on making sure his daughter has a wedding cake.

I’m also hoping to make some time to read a story (or two, if I’m really feeling ambitious) by the journalist William Langewiesche, whose death by prostate cancer was announced earlier this week. Langewiesche, a pilot and longform journalism master, was known for his rigorous, in-depth approach to reporting on complex events, people and places. One of his specialties was disaster reporting, especially those involving airplanes. It’s perhaps odd to admit that the only Langewiesche story I’ve actually read is his 2019 piece for The Atlantic called “What Really Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane.” But the lengthy story made such an impression on me that I’ve considered myself a fan ever since.

I haven’t quite settled on what story to read yet, but given recent events, I’m drawn towards his 2004 story about life in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

But if you’re looking for an indoor activity that actually involves leaving the house this weekend, fear not. I’ve got you covered. Keep reading after the jump to find out more. I’m Mike Kordenbrock, bringing you the Daily Roundup…

Americana, country and rock singer-songwriter James McMurtry is back in town this Sunday night, for a show at the Great Northern Bar in Whitefish. McMurtry, who never seems to stop touring for long, has in recent years made the Flathead a regular stop on his route. This time around, we’ve got the honor of having him come to our neck of the woods fresh off today’s release of his latest album “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy.”

Scott Ray, writing for Texas Monthly, noted the album is McMurtry’s first since the death of his father, the novelist and writer Larry McMurtry. Ray reports that the album’s title track was inspired by what McMurtry’s stepmother “told him was a frequent hallucination Larry had after dementia set in at the very end of his life,” though McMurtry went on to say that the song is not about his father.

I’ve made my way once through the new album, and it’s another top-notch example of good music blended with the character-driven storytelling that makes McMurtry’s talents so admirable.

When I asked McMurtry back in 2022 about his songwriting process, he talked about hearing a melody and a couple lines in his head, and then trying to envision the character that would have uttered those lines. Once he gets the story from the character, he keeps working backwards until he’s got a song.

I haven’t given the new album the requisite number of listens to render a lasting judgment, but so far, one of my early favorites is the song “South Texas Lawman,” which starts with the near-perfect lines “South Texas lawman, he brings them back alive. He hunts quail from horseback and he cheats on both his wives. One in Rio Bravo, one in Raymondville. He’s never been to Houston and he doubts he ever will.”

It’s a seemingly effortless character sketch that quickly had me waiting to see where the story of the song would go next.

Towards the end of that 2022 interview, I asked McMurtry if there was anything else he wanted to mention, or if there was anything else on his mind these days.

“You open up the internet, you got wars, we got floods, we got fires. We got … not a lot of great news these days,” McMurtry said in response.

Unfortunately, he could have offered up the exact same commentary today, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I’m happy to say, though, that McMurtry’s classic song “Walk Between the Raindrops” is a great listen in times of doubt, uncertainty and difficulty.

Doors open for James McMurtry at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Great Northern Bar, with the show set to begin at 8. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. For more information go to greatnorthernbar.com.