This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #143 (September/October 2009).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.
by Kerry Dexter
| You might find Keith Murphy playing a concert with his trio Nightingale, working on a
project with traditional English folksinger Tony Barrand, backing up Scottish-style
fiddler and composer Hanneke Cassel on the road, working on a recording with Irish
music duo Matt and Shannon Heaton, playing a contradance with fiddler and singer Lissa
Schneckenburger, or writing his own tunes. When it came time to put together a solo CD
in 2005, however, the Vermont-based musician chose to frame his music in geography.
"I'm from Newfoundland," he said. "I have an attachment to music from there. The
music of French Canada has always been important to me -- my singing, especially --
and now, I've lived in New England for 15 years, and I've enjoyed the traditions here,
and shape-note music has been really exciting, too."
The CD is called Bound for Canaan. "It's almost literally a geographic trail from where I come from...from Newfoundland, to eastern Canada and French Canada, and then to New England," Murphy said. The 12 tracks include "A Sailor Courted," from Newfoundland; "C'est Aujourd'hui Grande Fête," from Quebec; the shape-note song "Parting Friends"; and "The Stormy Scenes of Winter" from Nova Scotia. There's another bit of geography that has informed Murphy's work. "My mother is from Scotland, and was very involved in traditional Scottish dancing, so I spent a lot of time when I was young hearing traditional Scottish dance music played around the house," Murphy said. "I think Scottish music has a very distinctive, crisp playing approach. That had a big impact on me, and I think I absorbed that sense of rhythm." Murphy also heard the strong traditional music styles of Newfoundland as he was growing up and studying piano and guitar. Later he added mandolin to his repertoire, and as an adult he picked up several other instruments "which I have retired from!" he said, laughing. His time working on fiddle and accordion, though he no longer plays them, "really help me when I'm arranging, thinking about how to use different instruments and musical textures." |
This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #143 (September/October 2009).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.
![[cover #143]](/linen/143/cover143t.jpg)
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