When people hear that actor Bill Murray has been touring the country with German cellist Jan Vogler and accompanied by a classical trio, no one bats an eye.

In 2018 anything and everything that Murray does is met with bemusement and interest. His persona is now a moving American landmark. Maybe even a precious natural resource.

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His image is on everything from pillow cases and bumper stickers to street art and T-shirts. People at dinner parties tell stories of the night he came into their local dive and served them shots from behind the bar.

That's why when Chron.com gets a call from the pair as they are driving through Pennsylvania Amish country on the way to a gig in Baltimore, it's not surprising. It makes sense.

Murray and Vogler together are revisiting human creative history, with Murray reciting passages from notable works of literature and music, redefining yet again how we see him, as Vogler and two other musicians create musical beds.

We've seen Murray as a ghost buster, an Army recruit, a morose actor stuck in a Tokyo hotel, and even as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but we've never seen him this way. It's one-part crooning and one-part spoken word.

"New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler, and Friends" sets up shop at Jones Hall on April 16 for a one-night stand, with Vogler on cello, Mira Wang on violin and Vanessa Perez on piano. Murray is out front dressed in crisp, turn-of-the-19th-century period garb.

The album of the same name was released last year.

It's an American and European stew featuring ingredients from Mark Twain, J.S. Bach, Franz Schubert, Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman, Leonard Bernstein, Ira Gershwin and Stephen Foster.

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The pair met in an airport security line before a Berlin to New York City flight, with Murray admiring Vogler's cello. As Vogler tells it, they soon became fast friends. Soon the germ of the "New Worlds" collaboration took hold.

"I had heard him singing in 'The Jungle Book' and saw him recite poetry in the city," Vogler says as Murray drives. "He can sing really well, and he can also recite and tell stories incredibly well, so I sent him a text."

Driving across the country, punk-rock DIY style in Murray's RV gives the group a chance to see strange nooks and crannies across the American landscape. The 67-year-old Murray is the "best driver" among them Vogler says.

"I just saw a man watering his fields with a water wagon being pulled by horses," Murray tells Chron.com.

They are seeing things that no one would get to see otherwise on a nationwide tour.

What is it like touring the country these days? Does Murray have a hard time stopping to get gas? Seeing him anywhere is cause for fainting and manic selfie-seeking.

"I have a mask for stopping," Murray says. "Luckily I haven't needed it yet."

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(Don't worry, Chron.com told the RV-driving American icon all about Buc-ee's and Beaver Nuggets.)

"New World" and the live show itself dig into a very fertile era of creativity for mankind. He thinks that right now we are also seeing a similarly fruitful era of creativity thanks to the current uncertain social and political climate.

"This will be a really good era for creativity," Murray says. "The popcorn is popping in the country right now." These days remind him of the Watergate era, when society's creatives were having a tough time lampooning the lunacy going on in front of them.

"It's like a photo finish now," Murray says.

For German-born Vogler, seeing America, where he has lived for some time now, from an RV is adding new meaning nightly to the work they are doing onstage together.

"We are reflecting on the past in America at a very interesting time," Vogler says. "There are incredible values in America and I love the treasures of American culture. Guys like Gershwin and Stephen Foster were a part of a very creative time for our country and it's happening again."

"I am very thankful that the Houston Symphony and (conductor) Andrés Orozco-Estrada are presenting us in Houston," Vogler says.

Ezra Shaw

Any chat with the Chicago-bred Murray is incomplete without mentioning baseball. His beloved Cubs are once again already being predicted as locks for the postseason just as Houston's reigning World Series champs are.

"Astros games are fun to watch," Murray says. "It's such a hungry and dominant team. (Owner) Jim Crane has done a nice job pulling those guys together and it looks like they are all having a great time."

He'd love to see a Cubs and Astros World Series matchup.

"It's not out of the question," he says. "Maybe I will be in Houston again in October and November."

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Murray was in Houston for extended period of time about 20 years ago, shooting Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" in and around the city. He was staying at a hotel with windows that didn't open. That's all he can recall at the moment while he is driving. He does remember working long hours that prevented him from exploring the city as he would have liked.

"Wes was still cutting his teeth and felt an obligation to his hometown to do it right," Murray says.

He remembers a script read-thru with co-star Jason Schwartzman that scared him a little about the project.

"He was just awful," Murray laughs. "I think he was nervous at first around me. I went to a whiskey tasting at the hotel and drank it off."

As everyone knows now, once they got on set magic happened and the film opened up Murray and newcomer Schwartzman into new career territory.

Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com.