Why Mike Plume can't get enough of Larry McMurty's The Last Picture Show

Mike Plume is a Canadian country singer-songwriter based in Alberta. His career spans over 25 years and 12 studio albums with his latest titled Born by the Radio. 

He's currently reading The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry. 

"I moved to Bonnyville, Alta., in 1985. It is a dusty oil town out on the Prairies and The Last Picture Show is pretty much that. It's a coming-of-age story about a couple of high school buddies an them going through their life in the plains of Texas. Growing up in this small little oil town in Northern Alberta, it just felt like my life. The wind is always  blowing. It's always dusty.

"What I like about Larry McMurtry is that he introduced these characters in 1962 and he's still writing about them today. So you start with The Last Picture Show and you work your way through Texasville. These characters that he introduced to us in 1962 are still alive and kicking. They become friends of yours. It's a great escape for me. I fall in there and I want to live in there. That's just the way it feels to me." 

Listen to The Mike Plume Band perform My Old Friend

Mike Plume's comments have been edited for length and clarity.