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For Austin’s
Trish Murphy it’s been a stormy ride between records. But
sometimes the pain makes you stronger and that is certainly
the case with her splendid new release, Girls Get In Free.
With a new found confidence, Murphy unleashes ten new songs
filled with passion and charm as well as a tantalizing and
rowdy duet with Austin heart throb Bob Schneider on Lyle
Lovett’s “Cowboy Man.”
The Austin Chronicle has summed up the album and Trish’s
talents best: “A striking tableau of empowerment,
whimsicality, and longing set to rich, rootsy textures,
Girls firmly secures Murphy’s place in the upper echelon
of Austin singer-songwriters.” And it’s the songs on Girls
Get In Free that are the real stars. From the first notes
of the jangly set opener “All I Want” to the defiant “The
Trouble With Trouble” to the impassioned country rocker
“Crying As Fast As I Can” to the bittersweet atmospheric “I
Don’t Want To Believe,” this is easily Trish’s best work to
date.
“When I went into the production of Girls Get In Free,”
Murphy explains, “I knew what I wanted and I knew exactly who
I wanted to work with. I had reached a level of confidence and
power where I no longer second-guessed myself about which
decisions were best for me.”
Murphy has been a musician most of her life. A Houston native,
her father, a struggling musician and songwriter, taught his
three children to sing background harmonies for him when they
were preschoolers. Although he eventually had to take jobs in
construction to make a living, the family kept its bohemian
values. While she was working her way through school, her dad
encouraged her to get gigs to support herself, rather than
pursue the proverbial something-to-fall-back-on. After
receiving a BA in philosophy, she decided to fall back on
music full-time. She formed a duo with her younger brother and
Trish & Darin became one of the biggest-drawing acts in
Houston for several years in the early 1990’s.
In 1996, she moved to Austin to nurture a solo career and
became one of the fastest rising musical stars in Texas. Her
discography now includes three solo albums, two of which she
recorded and released on her own label. Crooked Mile
was released independently in April 1997 to widespread
critical raves. National distribution soon followed, along
with constant touring throughout the U.S. and Europe. Tour
highlights included a week with Lilith Fair and appearances on
Mountain Stage and World Cafe. Her follow-up CD, Rubies on
the Lawn (Doolittle/Mercury 1999), garnered national
press, mainstream radio airplay and more international
touring, including a return to the Lilith Fair in its final
season. Captured, independently released in late 2001,
found Trish returning to her Texas roots in a stripped-down,
live acoustic setting, doing what she does best: telling
stories and shooting from the hip.
After Captured, she reached a point where she wasn’t
sure she had another album in her. Three years ago, the newly
divorced Murphy learned her parents were likewise splitting up
after 40 years of marriage. Deeply affected by these events,
she took a sabbatical, which lasted a year and a half.
Eventually Trish came back to songwriting and performing. The
personal growth and renewed self-confidence are quickly
evidenced on Girls Get In Free.
Equally important to Murphy is her work as a volunteer board
member of GenAustin, a non-profit outreach program that helps
middle school-aged girls develop strong self-esteem. “In a
way,” she explains, “it ties in with the concept of ‘girls get
in free.’ They establish big sister, little sister programs to
teach girls moral integrity at time in their lives when things
change seemingly overnight.” Murphy’s dedication to the
program is so deep seated that the CD release party for
Girls Get In Free was a benefit for GenAustin.
-- Jim Caligiuri |
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