BALCONYTV.COM 20/02/2008
PRESENTED BY PAULINE FREEMAN
Murphy Lane began with the very unlikey yet extremely creative pairing of Jeff Lane and David Murphy. Jeff, hailing originally from Derbyshire and David from Co Cork, got together musically by chance back in the summer of '05, when both became aware that they share similar appreciations and ideas when it comes to producing music of a timeless quality. With Jeff having graced many stages over the years - with legends such as Steve Miller and Joe Walsh - and David the guitarist with Cork rocker's True Delusion, this duo's collaboration has produced original songs whose history can be traced through a legacy of musical genres: American roots music with its haunting country blues of the Deep South; the down-home stomp of the rolling Appalachia hills; soundscapes of the Wild Western plains and canyons; the fairytale folk of mystical English and Irish traditional music as well as poignant, heartfelt piano ballads. As a duo Murphy Lane spent most of the first year of their collaboration developing their songwriting abilities, and crafting and fine-tuning their songs and epic stories. Their individual strengths and weaknesses became apparant and soon Murphy Lane were maximising their songwriting potential.
Within a year, after one-off gigs and experimenting with other musicians, the Murphy Lane band was born and the lineup which would bring the songs to life was cemented. Sharing vocals between them, with Jeff on 12-String acoustic guitar, David alternating between acoustic Guitar, Piano, Mandolin and Pedal Steel, Murphy Lane's ensemble has since been expanded to comprise of a very talented group of musician's in Aisling Creedon-Adair on Double Bass, Mike Byrne - also of True Delusion - on Drums, the Milis girls Niamh Varian-Barry on Viola & Violin and Ilse de Ziah on Cello and Seamus Hennessy of Monorail alternating between guitars, whistles, banjos. With this lineup, Murphy Lane now have a versatile, dynamic sound of light and shade, more than capable of exploring, capturing and reproducing the essence and truth of their songs.
Before embarking on some shows around Ireland with good friend Nicole Maguire , Murphy Lane appeared at the first Indie-Pendence, Mitchelstown Music Festival 2006 in 2006 to great acclaim. At the beginning of 2007, the band stepped into the welcoming and homely Monorail Studio in Co Tipperary to record the debut album.
http://www.myspace.com/murphylane
Tune in again tomorrow!!!