Murphy 2.0

“All my life I’ve always ended up rotating back to music as a means of survival, whether it be for my mental state, or possibly financial state.” So says Murphy, a folk/blues-style singer-songwriter with a difficult early life story, and also a unique experience of musical self-discovery and wider fame.

While dealing with childhood challenges like a lack of reliable living circumstances and even homelessness, along with a degenerative eye disease, Murphy turned to music for solace and identity. As a young adult, he decided to follow the music where it would lead him. He says, “This is a defining point where I said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna suffer and struggle, I’m gonna go try to make a difference for myself. If I can’t get hours at my job, I’m gonna go play guitar, because it made me feel better, and I can make other people feel better.”

After getting a welcoming reaction from the people down at the Baltimore pier where he went to busk, Murphy had an important realization. “I knew for a moment that I was doing something positive with being just who I was,” he says.

Later, after refocusing on YouTube as a venue for sharing his music, he was invited to audition for American Idol (Season 19, 2021), becoming a fan favorite, despite not progressing to the final round. Nonetheless, the exposure afforded by the show propelled Murphy forward on his mission to share music and raise spirits everywhere he went. Never one to simply bask in his own success, he offers words of encouragement to other performers and anyone looking to take a new step in life: “…even if you’re not sure how well you will be received, go in as genuinely as you can, because everyone needs someone that commits to themselves.”

These days, along with a busy touring schedule, Murphy also makes time to share his talents and positivity with students at TheRecW (The Recording Workshop) in Chillicothe, Ohio. His most recent release is a 7-song EP, called, appropriately, Extended Play, available now on Spotify, and is teasing “something wonderful” to be released in late 2023.

To find out more, visit here. Listen to the full interview here.

By Dan Walsh