June 23, 2014

John Murray’s Califorlornia and The Graceless Age Coming

 

John Murry Releases New EP, Califorlornia, via Evangeline Records + Re-Release of The Graceless Age (both w/ bonus tracks)

Cut from the same cloth as Elliott Smith, Lou Reed, Jeff Tweedy and Darkness On The Edge of Town-era Springsteen, John Murry faces what he sees in the glass unflinchingly and then turns the mirror on us in ways that allow one to see their own reflection in sharper focus.

 Murry’s new EP, Califorlornia (out now), continues his evolution, showing off more modern rock curves and building on the buzzing, very alive production direction he embarked on with the late Tim Mooney (American Music Club) on The Graceless Age.  The EP is four tracks with three additional bonus tracks included as well. Two songs from the EP were co-written with longtime fellow traveler Chuck Prophet (Green On Red), plus a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Genius,” and a tribute to Mooney called “Timmy”.  Courtesy of Paste Magazine, listen to the EP in full HERE.

The combination of emotionally unsparing, high-minded thinking, streetwise poetry, and gutbucket execution is also visible on Murry’s full-length album, The Graceless Age, which was re-released as well.

It’s not easy to hold an unclouded mirror up to the world.  The temptation to fog up truths or angle them in ways that are less painful is nigh irresistible.  To look at things as they are – warts and all, good and bad – requires a brave heart and sturdy constitution.  To then stir that honest stuff into songs that communicate successfully to others is rarer still.  A Tupelo, Mississippi native, Murry brings some of the literary heft of his second cousin, William Faulkner, to his music but there’s no mistaking that he’s up to rock & roll business.

His sound howling with electricity, distortion, and ornery, primal growl, the rabblerousing spirit of the MC5 and Patti Smith are breathing anew through Murry on both of these introspective records. Los Angeles, come see it for yourself at his upcoming performance at The Hotel Café on July 8th. RSVP via our email below.

Upcoming Show

7/8 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Cafe

 

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