James Robert Webb is a multi-dimensional man.
By day, he wields a scalpel in the quest to stop human pain. By night, or whenever he can, he wields a guitar pick and sings to his heart's content to just about anyone who will listen.
He's not in the position to have to chose between the country-musician and the doctor role. He can do both.
"Both make sense for me," Webb said. "I like helping people and creating something of value."
When he visits Mid Missouri next weekend, Webb will be following his country music muse. On Friday, he will appear at a showcase for the Missouri Fair and Festival Association in Columbia. Then he comes to Callaway.
Webb and his band will put on a show at 54 Country in Fulton about 9 p.m. on Saturday (doors open at 7 p.m.) That concert follows a busy day spent filming his latest music video in Fulton. Most of the taping will happen at 54 Country, and those who attend the evening concert may end up in the video, he said.
Webb, 43, is Oklahoma born and bred, who calls Tulsa home - but not really.
"I grew up here in a little town around Kellyville, but actually out in the country," he said. "I grew up in the suburb of the sticks, I say."
His favorite song is "Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson.
"I just love Willie Nelson," Webb said. "It's just a well-written song.
His family dabbed at music, although not professionally.
"My mom pays piano," Webb said "My kids are all musical."
Webb has children ages 12, 9 and 6 who are all showing an independent interest in music.
"If they come to me and ask for help, I'll help, but I don't want to press them," he said.
Webb added his 9-year-old son sings and plays piano, guitar and drums.
"He's pretty good," he said of his son's newly acquired interest in drumming. "He's kind of a natural at that. Maybe someday we'll have a family band."
Webb started playing on his mom's piano as a small tyke.
"My mom had an old upright piano," he said. "I'd go pick melodies on it."
Then he started school.
"In the third-grade band I played clarinet about two weeks and saxophone about six months," he said.
Songwriting came later.
"I tinkered with writing but I didn't have a book to read or a mentor," Webb added. "I really started about five years ago, thinking about what is it that people love about songs? I started writing sheepishly."
Webb's first paying job was as a stock hand. He was in 4H, FFA, rode at round-ups and showed livestock. Medical school came along, and then establishing and operating a private practice specializing in bone health. Webb is a board-certified musculoskeletal radiologist who treats patients with painful vertebral compression fractures and osteoporosis.
"I do small procedures for pain management," he said. "Back pain is the most common thing. I tell new doctors and others to send me your people no one else can help."
Webb recorded his first demo in 2012, he said. An indie album, "Pictures," followed, and his next album, "Honky Tonk Revival," is about to come out. That album was co-produced by Daniel Kleindienst, a Fulton native now from Shelbyville, Tenn. and owner of Webb's management company Banner Music.
The new video will be for Webb's new song, "Six Strings and the Truth."
"It's going to be fun," he said, adding details are still being firmed up. "A lot of balls are flying in the air right now."
Kleindienst said he will be coming, too. He and his wife, Camilla, represent artists and songwriters, and produce demos and indie artist projects. The company was started in the Fulton area in 1996, Kleindienst said, and since moving to the Nashville, Tennessee area, it's taken off.
"The business has just grown and grown," Kleindienst said, adding he's looking forward to coming home to Missouri. "We're going to be bringing sound engineers, five or six in the film crew, an audio engineer. And there's five or six people in the band. It's going to be great. People will be looking for the video on CMT or YouTube."