ABOUT MIKE MURPHY

I grew up in Nashville Tennessee, son of a very musical father and a wonderfully artistic mother.

I’m proud to say that I started going to gigs early, the first was in 1969 ~ Muddy Waters in New York, I was two.

We moved to the UK when I was about 10 years old in ’76; my English father had fallen out of love with America as it changed from an age of as he saw it, of simpler innocence, to the place many of my family still call home.

Since then I have lived up in Southern England, East Sussex to be exact, always obsessively listening to music.

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

I have played guitar and written since the age of 14 (I’m now 43), at one point was a member of a very well respected Morris Dancing side, South Downs, I write, produce and engineer/mix my own music and have played in a few succesful bands along a musical way.

Now that I’m the very proud father of a 3 year old and married to Yvonne I don’t get too much extra time to be creative so now I host, record, produce and run a very successful radio show online called Bigmikeydread Reggae Radio as the outlet for musical mayhem.

I have in the past authored a website all about Jamaican vocalist Johnny Clarke and the acclaimed Jamaicanlabelart.com, a self explanatory place for visual indulgences!

I have a B.A Hons degree in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design, and continue to be interested in Fine Art, though I don’t attempt to create anything anymore.

Occassionally I sell records on eBay, and try desperately to collect Jamaican music. 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. I’ve worked as a sound engineer and (in the days of) tape editor, have written for magazines and online publications and enjoy writing… and I guess that’s why I started this Blog.