ABOUT MIKE MURPHY

Growing up in Nashville wasn’t a bad start for a musically obsessed life!

Born in 1967 I grew up in Nashville Tennessee, son of a very musical father and a wonderfully artistic mother. That’s my brother Chris (now leader of the Hotfoot Specials Cajun band) in the foreground, our friend and the girl who bust my collar bone by sitting on me Susan Sayers and that’s me Wyatt Earp on the right hand side.

I’m proud to say that I started going to gigs early, the first was in 1969, the Folklife Festival in Washington D.C., Libba Cotton, the lady who wrote ‘Freight Train’ kept me occupied on the way.

Dad had gone to the states out of a love of American Traditional Music in the early 1960s.

We moved to the UK when I was about 9 years old in ’76.

Since then I have lived in Southern England, East Sussex to be exact most of the time, always obsessively listening to music, playing music, talking music, writing music and annoying others by playing short excerpts of stuff I like.

At about 14-15 years of age I had my first taste of Jamaican music, a genre that would become an obsessive centre of my musical interests.

I have played guitar and written songs since the age of 15 (I’m now 54), at one point was a member of a very well respected Morris Dancing side, South Downs. I also fronted and gigged with mildly notorious ‘local’ band the Purple Frizbeez in the 80s and early 90s. I have in the past authored a website all about Jamaican vocalist Johnny Clarke and with creative spar Ian Causer of ‘House of Reggae’ fame also the acclaimed Jamaicanlabelart.com, a self explanatory place for visual indulgences!

I used to host and produce the podcast Bigmikeydread Reggae Radio.

I write my own music as Michael Cullen Murphy. The English Folk guitarist Martin Simpson who is a family friend heard a song and told me to get on with writing, and when someone like him tells you you have some talent, it’s time to go get on with it… I occasionally put the work in progress up here  > http://www.reverbnation.com/mikemurphy4

I have a B.A. Hons degree in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design.

I sell and collect records via Discogs. UK Folk Rock and Folk Psych excites my ears of recent, and I’m enjoying filling up my Sandy Denny selection and listening to people like Karen Dalton, Bridget St. John, Archie Fischer, Steve Young and Nic Jones for the first time.

I have lectured in Jamaican popular music at Chichester University, contributed to the Rare Record Guide and Roots Knotty Roots (a guide to Jamaican single releases) & have written about music for magazines and online publications.

Mikey’s back with wonderful Reggae (and other Caribbean) music, fi free, fi yuh, on Podomatic.

Four or so years ago I compiled the double cd ‘Mento Not Calypso’ release for the Fantastic Voyage label, now defunct. The release did well and remains one of the best and most original compilations of early and super rare Jamaican music.

Bigger News

In 2021 I finally finished the LP I had been working on, on and off for 7 years. I had been working on this for a number of years on and off, when life allowed me to do what life should be for. I played it to Nick Saloman of the Bevis Frond and Nick asked me if he could release it on his and Gary Urwin’s label Blue Matter Records. I was as you can imagine overjoyed that something that was really to that point a vanity project will see a Vinyl release in December of 2022. I already have the test pressing and it sounds lovely.

Day job . . . . I work as a Timber Salesperson.

I’m very happily the Dad of an 16 year old son and the fiancee to partner Sue, who once had a large collection of UK & US 60s Garage and Psych. She’s been teaching me loads and introducing me to fabulous new genres of music since we met.

It’s an education and you never stop learning, or listening.