Chris Murphy – Songs From the Trees (Teahouse Records) Dave Franklin, The Big Takeover
Most music makers are storytellers, to some degree, weavers of tales, imparters of wisdom, purveyors of wit…but artists like Chris Murphy are the story. I say this because, although his music is full of myriad people and fantastic places, tales both tall and relatable, and music drawn from across countries and cultures, geographies and genres… little in his music even matches the story of the man himself.
A genuine troubadour, a world traveler, a magpie-like collector of sounds, a consummate entertainer and raconteur, as at home firing bluegrass grooves as he is evoking keening celtica, as familiar with buoyant dance-along, foot-stomping tunes as drifting ambient soundscapes, he has mastered all sounds and styles, and has looped and jammed and composed and entertained his way around the world for many decades. His is the story, and the story is him.
His latest chapter is both the logical next step and a dream come true, as his latest album, Songs From The Trees, sees him surround himself with not only his regular gigging partner Barney Kenny, and engineer and multi-instrumentalist Josiah J Manning, but none other than Seth Lakeman on production and a wide array of instruments. A fine sonic gang if ever there was one.
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