Marty Murray

By JOHN LAW
Review Staff Writer

NIAGARA FALLS -  After 26 years playing Niagara's bars, pubs, festivals and wherever else he's
invited, Marty Murray figured a CD was overdue. His debut release 'Ghosts' has been so long in
the making, CDs weren't even around when he wrote some of it. "Every time I went to do this,
something happened that set me back," saysthe jovial singer/songwriter. "It was mainly money and
bad timing." He thought it was time a decade ago, until a divorce put his life on hold. Just as the
stars were aligned again, his equipment was stolen. Add to that a job with stressful hours, and
'Ghosts' was being haunted by delays. "I've been through ten bad years, which the second half of
the album kind of chronicles," says Murray. "But I knew I'd get it done eventually. "The way
technology is now, you don't have to go into a big studio to record any more. It's not like it used to
be. The equipment has gotten so good that you can buy it to use at home. "It's just mainly using
a good microphone and knowing what you're doing."

A disquieting, acoustic album, 'Ghosts' is a throwback to his favourite era of music - the early '70s.
It was a time for songwriters like Cat Stevens and Jim Croce, before disco and punk took over.
"That's what I grew up with," says the 48-year-old Murray. "That's when I was learning how to play
the guitar." Though he loves all styles of music, Murray's sound has barely budged. The oldest
song on the CD, 'It¹¹s Been a Long Time', was written 30 years ago and blends right in. "I haven't
really changed (the songs) that much. I don't try to be trendy - I just write what I write, and I think
they sound just as good as when I first wrote them."

The CD is full of old wounds: 'You Run' and 'Love Lost to Cocaine' painfully revisit a relationship
torn apart by drugs. 'Truck Driving Man' is a haunting tune inspired by a story Murray read in the
Review about a man who returned to his job of driving rigs, only to go missing. He had pulled over
to get some rest at a truck stop and died in his sleep. Murray had spoken to the man at a bar just
six months earlier.

The CD's only cover song is a stirring version of Ron Sexsmith's 'Trains' - one Niagara singer
paying tribute to another. "It was a healing process, some of the more heavy songs," he says.
"Usually when I write a song, I've got a situation or something that's on my chest that I've got to get
off. It helps getting them out, getting it written down and performing it. It's like therapy."

For now, the CD is available by e-mailing Murray at mmurray31@cogeco.ca, or through links
available on his myspace page at www.myspace.com/martymurraysingersongwriter.
He doesn't think the next CD will take 26 years. "I'll be singing about my own ghost," he laughs.
"I've got some ideas for songs for the next one. It'll be similar to this one where I go back to some
of my old tunes and mix 'em up with newer ones. "I'm thinking that the next album is probably going
to have a sunnier outlook than this one. I'm in a lot nicer place now."


- The Niagara Falls Review

GHOSTS –– MARTY MURRAY ©2005

It’s nice to know that not all ghosts are frightening. Despite the painful experiences
chronicled in some of the songs (particularly those mourning a past lover’’s addiction to
cocaine), there are other songs that tell of compassionate, wistful memories, making for
a balanced approach in the songwriting. Mr. Murray’s determination to empathize, rather
than condemn, makes this debut recording that much more admirable.

His hard-won peace of mind is kept on an even keel through his softly chiming strum-and-
pick alternations on 12-string guitar. The music ultimately triumphs over the suppressed
anger and disappointment inherent in the lyrics. Topping the bittersweet refrains is a
soothing, angelic voice that will in turn haunt the listener long after the last of these
memorable songs has finished.

If you are a fan of Ron Sexsmith, one of Marty’’s many musical heroes and whose 1991
song “Trains” is nailed superbly here, you will include Ghosts among your favourite CDs.
The only other song that is not entirely Marty’’s own is “Desert Winds”. Shelley Goodacre
is credited with the lyrics, and the instrumentation was a collaborative effort with Rich
Morton, who alternates on guitar on this track as well as on ““Heroes””. All other tracks
have the equally talented Jay Reed accompanying or alternating with Marty on guitar.

If you’’ve ever visited Niagara Falls or St. Catharines, Ontario, you may have already heard
Marty perform some of these original compositions live, unadorned by any accompaniment.
His 2004 solo performance at a SIDS benefit at Healey’’s in Toronto was, in fact, very well
received.

I have to admit, though, that the synthesized string sections on the opening “Fantasy Girl”
and “Truck Driving Man” (provided by Dean Malton, who co-produced the CD along with
Marty and guitarist Gil Hicks of The Pace) were welcome additions, adding an extra layer
of fullness without being melodramatic. It is both a flawless and tasteful performance and
production by all involved in the project.

I’m hard-put to name one favourite track among so many, but I have to admit I kept going
back to “As You Lie Sleeping”, not just for its Blue Rodeo and even Bob Dylan influences,
however subconscious, but because of the subject matter, i.e. long-distance separation.
Frankly, that one hit me in the gut. This CD may not succeed in banishing everyone’’s
ghosts, but it just might provide the inspiration and courage to give it a concerted effort. Bravo.

- Diane Wells, Hamilton Music Writer

I played all the basic tracks for this album live, with only one or two takes each. I wanted the album
to sound as much like myself when I perform live as possible. Also, hearing the last few Johnny
Cash albums, where it was just himself and his acoustic guitar, I saw how that drew your attention
to the songs themselves, and to his delivery of them. You weren’t finding yourself paying attention
so much to all the bells and whistles, as you do with so many recordings today. I just wanted a nice, clean, clear and honest rendition of what I do, and I think I accomplished that. Counting breaks,
we did all the basic tracks in one afternoon, in about a six or seven hour session.

Fantasy Girl - This song was written sometime in 1977, if I’m not mistaken. It’s about that one
person who you admire from afar, fantasize about, but never think in a million years you could ever
have. The girl I wrote this for was very popular and almost every guy at her highschool wanted to
date her. For a guy like me, who was never popular in school, she seemed completely out of reach,
and yet still she took a liking to me, though it never went much further than that. Now that so many
years have gone by she remains one of my closest and best friends. Funny how things work out
sometimes. Aside from the sampled cello part played by Dean, this song is completely me, playing
by myself.

Desert Winds - In the early 90's I was doing two-man band with lead guitarist Rich Morton, who
I’d known for a number of years. He was approached by one of his co-workers, Shelley Goodacre,
about writing and recording a song based on a poem she had written for another lady who was
about to retire, as she wanted to give the recording to her as a retirement gift. Rich wrote most of
the basic ideas for the song, then brought me in to finish it up and work on the lyrics. Basically I just
moved a few things around and came up with the bridge for the song, and we went into the studio
to get it recorded. The finished result was fine, but it contained a lot of keyboards and had a
different feel from the way we originally imagined it, which is much closer to what you hear now.

It Soon Will Be Gone - This one goes back to the early 80's, when my girlfriend was away at
college and I found myself missing her. I couldn’t get the lyrics to work from her perspective, so I
took some artistic license and instead imagined it from the point of view of a musician on the road,
wishing he was back home with his lover. The feelings were the same, either way. This is another
song where, aside from the harmony overdubs, it’s just me playing live in the studio.

It’s Been A Long Time - This is the oldest song on the album, written about 1975, in between
phone calls from my girlfriend at the time, in about a half an hour. I came up with the basic melody
and the main gist of the lyrics while washing my hair in the shower! I’ve performed this one fairly
steadily ever since and it remains a favourite of many of my longtime friends.

As You Lie Sleeping - I wrote this song late on Christmas Eve in 1995. My wife had informed me
just a few months earlier that our marriage was over, and I had begun seeing an old girlfriend who
now lived a fair distance away. That day she was heading out to Calgary to spend the Christmas
holidays with her sister, and I was feeling pretty sad and alone. It’s quite a bittersweet tune, but one
of my favourites, and I absolutely love the little guitar hook that Jay Reed came up with, that runs
throughout the song. I think it really made this song something special.

When Your Heroes Have All Gone - One of my longtime friends was seriously injured in a terrible
car accident back in the late 80's, and suffered brain damage. Her recovery was long and arduous,
but she came through it able to do many things she was told she would never be able to do again.
She made three videos for the Ontario Brain Injury Association, and for the final one she asked me
if I could write a theme song of some sort. The song she gave me as a model was Mariah Carey’s
“Hero,” but rather than taking that route I instead thought of all she’d been through, and how far
she had come, mostly through her own willpower and determination to succeed. I think many of us
can find strength and capabilities within ourselves we never even dreamed that we had, if faced
with the right circumstances.

Truck Driving Man - For the most part this is a completely true account of something that
happened to a man that I knew, around the end of 1988. He had been a truck driver his entire life,
and had recently returned to work out of retirement, because he needed the money. I had lost my
own father to cancer earlier that year, and knew his kids very well, so I wrote the song from their
point of view, expressing my own feelings of loss through theirs.

You Run - This is the portion of the album that reflects a rather dark period of my life, where I was
dealing with, and then ending, a serious relationship with a partner who turned out to have a drug
addiction which she had kept hidden from me the entire time we were together. She had begun
staying out all night, leading a double life, and returning in the morning as if nothing had happened.
Months of broken promises, lies and incredibly selfish behavior only continued to get worse, and
finally she had no choice but to admit to me what was going on.

Celia’s Prayer - One of the worst things about being involved with someone with an addiction is
the frustration and helplessness of it all. If they are unwilling to help themselves, unwilling to even
admit that they have a problem, there isn’t really much you can do except stand aside and leave
them to go merrily down their road to self-destruction. It’s one of the most awful things I’ve had to
go through in my entire life. Once I realized that my help was unwanted, I wanted nothing more
than to get as far away from all of it as I possibly could, for my own well-being. This song is a
prayer of healing, for her and for myself.

Love Lost To Cocaine - I guess this song is fairly self-explanatory. It was written when I realized
that I had to leave the horrible situation I had found myself involved in, and it’s the most direct and
angry song on this album. At the time I really needed to get these feelings out of my system, and
I only hope that others who hear them, caught in similar situations, are able to find some solace
in what I went through. It’s a constant source of amazement to me that for the thrill of getting high,
some people are willing to cast aside everything that should be most meaningful to them - their
family, their kids, their ability to work and earn an income, and their own personal health, and even
when they have nothing left they still continue to destroy anything good that might remain. It’s evil
and insidious, and the people who prey upon these weak souls deserve to rot in Hell forever.

Ghosts - This is a song about the emotional fallout of bad relationships, whether it be from abuse,
addictions, unfaithfulness or simple deceit. The ghosts of horrible things that have been done to
us, of what we’ve had to live through and endure, carry on for our entire lives and are far more
frightening than any disembodied spirits that I’ve ever encountered. Once more Jay Reed came
up with a remarkable guitar part for this song that perfectly complimented what I was playing, and
really made the tune work.

Trains - I first met Ron Sexsmith when he was just starting out in the early 80's, when my band at
the time was playing a little bar in Niagara-on-the-Lake called Butler’s Den. The owners really liked
Ron and booked him fairly often, and on my weekends off I would go down there to listen to him
play. He was outstanding even then. He often picked album cuts rather than tried and true hits, and
did quite a lot of Dylan, Leonard Cohen and The Beatles. I remember listening to him play a lovely
version of McCartney’s “I Will” one night, and going home, trying to duplicate it. I soon gave up in
frustration. Ron has a unique style and voice, and that has carried over into his own songwriting.
I’ve always enjoyed the theme of “Trains,” that we often look to things outside of ourselves, to fate,
I guess, to carry our lives along, and steer us to where we’re going, and it was the first song of his
that I learned how to play. I wanted to include it here as a little thankyou. This final track was
recorded totally live, in one take, right at the end of the session, and is left here in its completely
unadorned state.

Marty Murray, May 2005


- Marty Murray