Stone Richards & The Devil Folk

"Devil folk" artist working on first album


By Christa Cram


The recording has just begun, but Keith Dunphy, also known as Stone Richards, hopes to have his demo released before 2009 comes to an end.

Dunphy, a Music Industry and Performance student at College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville, has currently teamed up with a Recording Arts student to record some new tracks.

"The recording is going really well," said Dunphy excitedly. "Justin Waddleton does all of my stuff and he definitely knows what he's doing in the studio."

Stone Richards' music has been described as devil folk. It's "a dirty, raw, blend of old school country, folk and blues," said Dunphy.

Many people across the province are enjoying his music and hoping to hear more from him in the near future.

"When I heard Stone Richards, I was reminded of Elliot Smith at some points, that's pretty positive. I like the music a lot, and the lyrics," said Adam Green of Carbonear. "There's an important message to be heard and it's not lost in the music, which I think is common in a lot of music nowadays."

While trying to create an onstage persona for himself, Dunphy came up with the name Stone Richards. This was partly because of his love for The Rolling Stones and Keith Richards, but also because he wanted something familiar.

"I started thinking about how a lot of bands have names that include the same words...I realized that the word Stone was actually included in far more names than any other. Then my mind started ticking and I thought up the idea that I should have a name that includes the word Stone to help me out," said Dunphy. "The best part of the idea is that it allows my name to appear on internet searches for other artist with the same key words."

Dunphy has also been working on a new Desert Rock band called Lord Tunderin', with fellow students Bill Simms and Bob Tuck.

"I'm lovin’ that I’m getting to scream a bit more and play some distortion. The songs are so fun to play...lots of cow bell and dancing," said Dunphy who has been inspired to write more music. "I'm always taking in new experiences which always set the flame for lyrical content and musical ideas."

However, Dunphy's main focus is on Stone Richards.

"I'm trying to get a lot of material recorded this semester," he said. "I'm aiming to get a real good demo by the end of the year and hopefully get some funding for an album down the road."




You can check out Stone Richards at www.myspace.com/thedevilfolk.

- Troubador