Meg Murray & Angie Miller

i'll be home
for christmas
THE HOLIDAY JAZZ CD
MEG MURRAY
WARNING: With an album this sophisticated and stylish, "I'll Be Home For Christmas " may force you to throw a party that is as cool as this sounds. Regardless, make sure to unwrap it before Christmas so Meg Murray can provide the soundtrack to your holiday season in its entirety. Consider it a gift to yourself. CMG 12-03
- Chesapeake Music Guide

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Annapolis has a bustling music community all its own and, members of this self-contained group do not venture onto neighboring stages as often as they might.
On Oct. 24 two Annapolis singers (and songwriters) Meg Murray and Angie Miller bring their three-part show to the cozy college town emporium, Andy's in Chestertown.
Backed by a full band (Larry Melton on bass; Ryan Diehl on drums, and an unnamed guest guitarist), Murray starts the evening with a solo set of her urban contemporary tunes.

A slender blonde with a voice that just keeps getting better, Murray was approached by producer Timbaland (Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake's new solo release "Justified") a couple of years ago.
She spent time in Manhattan recording with him but the project was shelved. "The deal fell through mainly [due to] timing. I was 30 going up against 18 year olds," says Murray. "I was with the right people, at the right place, at the very wrong time."
The experience did open doors into the world of hip-hop, as well as give Murray insight into the music business and the studio process, which she says was "like going to graduate school."
Once her contract with Timbaland expired and she regained control of her songs, Murray hunkered down in Annapolis with Todd Kreuzburg to produce her fourth album, "Ready," which she released in November 2002 on her own label, Girl Island Productions. The album's title track and "A Lover's Lament" - what Murray describes as the first happy love song she's ever written. "It's a wish" she says - can be heard on her MP3 page.
The second set at Andy's will have Miller fronting the band. A wonderful songwriter whose 2003 release "Play" was recorded live at Sampsons Lounge in Annapolis (with Murray heard on background vocals), Miller established herself through several songwriters series. Her latest takes place every Thursday in November at Chez Lafitte in Easton, just down the street from the historic Avalon Theatre.

Miller's first album, "Ricochet" released by the Big Mo label in 1996, included a cameo from the guitarist Danny Gatton and leaned toward poetic lyrics intertwined with pop rhythms. Her second album was "White Space," a lean acoustic effort Miller describes as "sparse and melancholy reflecting that time in my life." Her latest, "Play," has a fuller and buoyant sound. "At this point I'm really enjoying what I do," says Miller. "I get to work for myself, make music and work with talented people I respect. I feel blessed to be able to do that and that's really what it's about for me now."

Miller's "Swim to Me" and "What's Wrong With Your Mind" - the latter based on a short story written by her father -- can be heard on her MP3 page.

Murray and Miller take on the evening's third set at Andy's together. What comes clear during their duet is that nothing can replace experience and talent when it comes to knowing how to capture an audience.

Meg Murray joins Angie Miller at Andy's in Chestertown Oct. 24

- Maria Villafana washingtonpost.com/MP3 producer