Abigail Murphy

“If only I’d been wiser then, I wouldn’t have to be so clever now…”
-- from “Clever” by Abigail Murphy

Candid and introspective lyrics such as this one, which exemplifies a consistent theme throughout her body of work, are a primary reason why Abigail Murphy connects so easily with her loyal fans. She has an extraordinary gift for vocally emoting and lyrically phrasing her insights about brokenness, healing, disenchantment, and hope in such a simple and artful way that the listener can’t help but recognize the reflection of familiar elements found in his or her own personal story.

Abigail’s musical journey began in 2003 shortly after moving to a tiny house in rural Kansas; a peaceful retreat she hoped to exploit for the opportunity it provided for meditating on and healing from painful mistakes made in her recent past. It isn’t surprising that her inward musings began to express themselves creatively; after all, Abigail had spent much of her youth and young-adulthood immersed in the performing arts.

Though her predilection was for the theatre arts, she found herself drawing inspiration from her history as a classically trained musician and as a follower of a number of underground rock artists to craft her own quirky and passionate songs to assist in the exorcising of her personal demons. As these brilliant and moody songs took shape, Abigail became conscious of the possibility that, because they were a catharsis for her, others might well find them valuable as well. In view of that prospect, she started performing frequent solo sets at an array of music venues across the Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as regionally.

With audiences falling in love with her unique vocal styling and with the honesty and passion in her lyrics, the notable demand for recorded material inspired Abigail to commit some songs to tape. Sitting alone in her living room in front of her piano and a borrowed 4-track analog recorder, she performed and mixed a number of songs that she soon duplicated and sold with some assistance from indie label Bully Pulpit Recording Co. (home at the time to such Kansas City indie-rock favorites as Drew Black and Greg LaFollette). This 8-song lo-fi debut recording, called “What You Wanted: The Home Recordings”, swiftly sold through its limited pressing.

The following year Abigail released 6 slightly more fleshed out demo recordings on a cd she called “The Rough EP”. In addition to her piano, the songs featured guitars, synthesizers, and drum programming which provided a more poppy and atmospheric sound than could have been achieved on her first recording. This disc quickly became on of Bully Pulpit Recording Co.’s strongest selling records and it continues to sell well more than three years after its initial release.

The label, recognizing an opportunity to capitalize on her success, re-released an extended 13-song version of Abigail’s debut album, “What You Wanted: The Home Recordings” in 2006. The newly mastered version included all but one of the original tracks, and it featured previously unheard tracks from the original demo tapes as well as two new digitally recorded home demos Abigail selected specifically for the re-release.

In 2007, Bully Pulpit Recording Co. released Abigail Murphy’s most ambitious project to date. “The Death of Coloring Books” was a fully-realized studio recording featuring over an hour of distinctive indie-pop music; 15 tracks masterfully executed by Abigail and an assortment of her musically-inclined cohorts, and produced and engineered by Greg LaFollette (Khorky Custer Khrusty).

Shortly before the record’s slated release, Abigail invited LaFollette to accompany her along with drummer Abe Deaver and bassist Drew Sitt in performing her songs as a full band in front of the larger audiences anticipated due to the widely accessible pop sensibilities of the new project. The band has gone through some transitions since then with Deaver and LaFollette moving on to other projects and Charlie Carter, Mark Knickerbocker, and Pat Ables stepping in and creating an even bigger sound. One of Abigail’s chief goals has been to create a stark contrast between her intimate, casual solo sets and her dynamic, theatrical full-band sets. This focus has afforded her the opportunity to feature for audiences her warm and personal side on one night, and her dramatic and spirited side the next.

For Abigail, who has already begun writing and performing songs for a somewhat politically-themed 2008 release, the artistry of it all has continued to prove therapeutic. And this, of course, is a very good thing not only for Abigail herself but also for her family, friends, and fans for, as she sings on her latest release:

“I can’t fix in someone else’s life what’s broken in my own…”
-- from “The Benevolent Miser” by Abigail Murphy

***Please see www.abigailmurphy.com and www.myspace.com/abigailmurphy for more information, photos, and downloads***