Minstrel wanders in for pair of Eastside shows
As the title track of his latest album suggests, Chris Murphy sails the world alone … unless he brings some friends along.
It’s seems like a good trade.
The Eastern Sierra gives the musician/composer Chris Murphy Mule Days, Bodie and Convict Lake.
In return, Murphy gives us his music.
The Silver Mountain String Band, fronted by Murphy, will play three shows in the Eastern Sierra next week.
They’ll play a private event at the Cardinal Village Resort in Aspendell on Tuesday, the East Side Bake Shop in McGee Creek on Wednesday, and Schat’s Roadhouse in Bishop on Thursday.
Murphy, a virtuoso on the violin, mandolin and guitar, is one of those guys who, if you’ll pardon the cliché, lost himself to find himself.
A true wandering minstrel, he spent nearly two decades playing in bands, touring, essentially arriving at shows, being shown miserable deli spreads, playing the gig and then haggling afterward over the band’s take.
Murphy (right) and Bruce Cockburn. Photo courtesy: Lunch.
But all the while playing original music, honing his craft.
Then he started the Teahouse Company in L.A. The simple description: It’s a catering company of music.
Which explains, when you look at his website, why he plays in six different bands. “It’s not six bands. It’s one band with six different repertoires. We’re like a Navy Seal Team six of musicians,” he jokes.
“We play weddings, parties, quinceañeras, brisses, public hangings …”
And then, a funny thing happened after he started Teahouse. Not only did he find that he was enjoying playing these private events—“When you pull up to weddings, they love you. They’re thankful you’re there. And you’re home by 11”—but he also started gaining some real traction.
He got hot. Hot enough that his trio has played the Golden Globe Awards show the past two years, along with private parties for various “A-listers” whose names you’d recognize.
Murphy grew up in Nyack, New York. He said he played mandolin in college but “you can’t make a living as a mandolin player.”
Through his manager, whose father had an ownership interest in an Irish bar in Boston, he learned of a band that needed a fiddle player. So that’s how, at age 25, he started playing what is now his signature instrument, the violin.
Sheet: What brought you to L.A.?
Murphy: For what I do, L.A. is a classic place to go for reinvention and for second acts … besides, I needed a place I could make a living … [I have to live in a place where there’s] 11 million people so that 100 can hire me.”
Murphy also mentioned that he was drawn to L.A. by artistic influences who included the writer Charles Bukowski.
Here’s his Bukowski story: It was 1999 and Chris was playing in a Seattle-based punk rock gypsy band called Ponticello. While touring in Southern California, Murphy visited Bukowski’s gravesite in San Pedro, and left a CD of his band’s music there.
Two years later, he got an email from an old friend who lived in England. The friend informed him that his CD was still there. “That’s how much people respect Bukowski,” said Murphy. “No one wants to disturb anything.”
So what’s his connection to the Eastern Sierra? Well, in the past, he’s played Double Eagle, Whiskey Creek and Sherwin’s Folly. This year, he had made plans to visit Bishop for Mule Days because he says his dream is to be a Mule Packer someday.
So he plans the trip and his friend Howie Schwartz, a local mountain guide and co-owner of Sage to Summit with his wife Karen, arranges a booking at Schat’s Roadhouse over that weekend.
Murphy describes Schwartz as a “world class bluegrass guitar player.”
That event led to the three bookings he had lined up next week.
As Murphy said in regard to his Golden Globes shows, “[They booked us because] they wanted organic, earthy and real as opposed to a TV show band.”
While his versatility has proven somewhat of a handicap throughout the formative years of his career—“The single most defining element [of my music] is that I’m not interested in being pigeonholed into one particular thing. This hasn’t been a great career move [because I’m] difficult to define” —it appears like Murphy is reaping the benefit of his long musical journey now.
Make a special effort to see one of these shows. This guy is a pro like we don’t see very often, especially in such intimate venues.
The Bake Shop show on the 17th features an Italian-style dinner and wine-pairing with Mastro Scheidt Family Cellars. Starts 6 p.m. Cost: $35/person. Reservations: 760.914.2696
