Bill Murray Shows Up to Support Local Songwriters at Ft. Worth Bar
Actor, comedian, avid amateur golfer, and extreme music fan Bill Murray was in Ft. Worth, TX on Wednesday (5-23) participating in this week’s PGA Golf event, The Colonial Invitational. Murray was on the links on Wednesday playing in the event’s pro-am festivities and glad-handing fans in the gallery. But after Wednesday’s Colonial duties, Murray ventured out to take in some of the local music talent that Texas and Ft. Worth are famous for.
After first stopping by The Longhorn Saloon in the town’s historic Stockyards District, the comedian sauntered into nearby Filthy McNasty’s to take in a songwriters night that featured up-and-comer Skylar Payne, Clete Bradley of Clete Bradley and the Mood, and songwriter Zach Coffey. Skyler Payne hosts the guitar pull each Wednesday night with a revolving lineup of guests.
“He came in there during the second set, and pretty much sat there for the rest of the show, listening, clapping, cheering, tipping more than anyone else,” Skyler tells Saving Country Music. Murray especially liked a song called “Insane” from Skyler’s 2017 EP co-written by Joey Green. “He sat there for a while and had a good time. Every one of my originals and the covers that I did, he just quietly paid attention, and was one of the loudest clappers after every song. It was awesome to have him in the crowd.”
Skyler says Bill Murray was respectful when songs were being played, but he was also doing his part to entertain the crowd. “He kept requesting ‘Dick in a Box’ and Randy Newman,” Payne explains. “Once people recognized who he was, everyone just kind of swarmed him, and he ended up promptly leaving. Some people just didn’t understand that he gets swarmed with attention 100%, and sometimes he just wants to have a beer. But he stayed for a good hour-and-a-half.”
Bill Murray is known for showing up randomly at music events, being unable to contain himself, and doling out random acts of musical kindness. Previously Murray has been caught red handed going nuts at Chris Stapleton concerts, and is a huge fan of one of Stapleton’s first projects, the hard-driving bluegrass band The SteelDrivers. In November 2017, Murray attended a SteelDrivers show at the Charleston Music Hall in South Carolina, promptly cutting in line and purchasing all the remaining tickets for the show and handing them out to fans as they walked through the door.
May 24, 2018 @ 5:40 pm
That’s awesome. The only interesting guy I remember watching me play at Filthy’s was a really nice drug dealer with a glass eye. He loved Leon Russell.
May 24, 2018 @ 6:02 pm
Wonder what Landon Dodd thought?
May 25, 2018 @ 3:56 am
Bill Murray lives 3 miles from me. He’s a really weird dude. Not mean or anything, but really odd.
May 25, 2018 @ 5:13 am
Longhorn Saloon is a quintessential Texas dancehall and live music venue.
I caught a Gary P. Nunn show there 6 months ago while I was in town for a car race.
It was more fun than the racetrack.
May 25, 2018 @ 9:04 pm
Gary is so great live!
May 25, 2018 @ 5:21 am
Bill Murray seems like a weird guy but he is hilarious and his heart seems to be in the right place. I always enjoy stories like this, thanks for writing about these events.
May 25, 2018 @ 5:55 am
I think my favorite Bill Murray story is somebody recognizes him at a fast food joint, McD or BK I bet.
Anyway, fan sees Bill Murray, and Murray walks over slowly, slowly takes one of this guy’s fries and eats it and gets close and says “no one will ever believe you” and walks away
I have a huge book of Bill Murray stories.
He’s an interesting dude.
May 25, 2018 @ 11:09 am
Very nice of Bill to do this.
If he’s a little odd, that might be part of why he’s so much funnier than almost everyone else.
It’s second nature to him.
Many extremely talented people are oddballs. Seems to go hand in hand.
May 25, 2018 @ 11:30 am
That explains David Allan Coe…
May 26, 2018 @ 11:15 pm
Bill Murray is great and notorious for random acts of kindness like this. Love that crazy dude. Hell, I just watched Ghostbusters 2 a few hours ago because I hadn’t seen it in a loooooong time. i love the part where Ray and Egon put slime in the toaster, turn on music, and make the toaster dance on the pool table. haha and Murray says, “does it like Emmy Lou Harris?” ahhhh. great movie. Great guy all around. 🙂