BIO
Cheynne Murphy is a local Byron Bay singer songwriter on the verge of big things . Cheynne and his musical companion Mark Heazlett performed at the internationally renowned 2009 Bluesfest in the company of Ben Harper, Michael Franti, Missy Higgins, John Butler amongst others. With sublime harmonies and a blend of 12 string and finger picking guitar driven by deft brushs, Cheynne seems to effortlessly traverse an alternative acoustic folk pop terrain ending up somewhere in the misty hills of Byron Bay, the inspiration and location for Cheynne’s latest EP - Firesongs for the Soul. With growing critical acclaim, national radio airplay and television performances plus some major supports, Cheynne is on a journey to the international stage. A born philosopher, Cheynne explores the transformative power that can come out of intense life changes, diving deep into the human experience and surfacing somewhere where the glass is always half full. A dreamy country pop purveyor with a whole lot of old school soul, this music will uplift and inspire you.

That Was Then
Cheynne picked up an old nylon string guitar in his final year of a marketing degree in Sydney much to the dismay of his parents.
Upon discovering three chords (or 4) and the truth through a diet of old delta blues, Bob Marley and old skool Cat Stevens, Cheynne set about writing his own simplistic versions of ‘songs’ and discovered he had a knack for melody and emotional authenticity.
His second gig saw him perform to 1500 people at a College ball on campus. Three years later he had signed a world wide publishing deal with Warner Chappell, had performed on national television and had started getting radio airplay... A meteoric rise into the heady world of the music industry, it was during this time that Cheynne emerged as a front man for seminal indie acts Mama Bird, Spinifex and later, Wingspan.
An album was recorded in 2003, with the band Wingspan. Management, record contracts, and touring commitments unfolded in quick succession due to the commercial strength of this material but ultimately the band imploded like all good rock and roll clichés in a haze of scandalous deals, legal battles, hidden agendas, dodgy managers and a band dynamic akin to the krakatoa. This was an ambitious beginning described by reviewers at the time as “ a special orchestral rock record of rare songwriting genius”….Drum Media. See Other Projects for the reformation of Wingspan as Wild Horse.
Upon moving to Byron Bay in 2006 Cheynne recorded his follow up EP- Return to the Source which received national airplay on ABC and great support locally with Bay FM. Supports with Tex Perkins, Pete Murray kept him in good company and set the stage for his latest offering Firesongs For The Soul EP.
Firesongs For the Soul Background Story
Local Byron artist Cheynne Murphy is in good company having just played at the 2009 Bluesfest alongside Ben Harper, John Butler,and Michael Franti amongst others. Featuring a strong harmony based, acoustic sound, it looks like a stellar a year for this emerging singer-songwriter.

“The Bluesfest was an incredible experience. Just to see your name on the same poster as Ben Harper, Michael Franti etc was a real honour. We have been getting some real unique sounds by combining the bamboo flute with the three part harmonies and acoustic guitars…..it seemed to go down very well”.

The Bluesfest gig has come at a good time for Cheynne who released his new EP Firesongs for the Soul nationally in March. Already garnering critical industry acclaim, these new songs seem to effortlessly traverse an alternative acoustic folk pop terrain ending up somewhere in the misty hills of Byron Bay, the inspiration and location for most of the song writing.

Cheynne is an artist rising out of the healthy singer-songwriter sub-culture now flourishing in Australia following the success stories of Bernard Fanning, Bob Evans, Pete Murray and Josh Pyke to name a few. Not a stranger to his own success Cheynne has already gained national radio airplay, national television performances, a major publishing deal and some big supports to his credit. His early career was spent chasing record deals in indie bands and after a period of soul searching on a Macadamia farm near Bangalow on the North Coast, starting a new family and then dealing with an emotional separation the foundation had been laid for the Firesongs recording.

Lyrically the songs reflect this transition. The transformative power of change really shines through the emotional depths explored in separation and the potential freedom that can arise from this. Ultimately
this is a record about moving on and spiritual growth.

The initial inspiration for the EP was an innocent recording session taking place between friends
around a campfire.
“Originally I did actually start recording this around a campfire which was a great vibe but not so crash hot with the low–fi quality of sound. I tried this because I felt the songs lent themselves to this kind of classic atmosphere you get when you are sitting around a fire with friends and someone has a guitar and people start singing songs together. Fortunately working at SAE gave me the opportunity to record in a million dollar studio so I took it to get a little more hi-fi in the sound.”

The recording process involved a lot of spontaneous unrehearsed performances from guitarists, singers, violinists, flute players and also trumpet helping capture a rich organic tapestry. In fact this is a totally home-grown production right down to the mastering and artwork.
“It makes sense to do things locally. Byron Bay is such a magical place and as such the recording process was full of these magic moments. One day the engineer and I were driving in the hills picking up some overdubs mobile style at friend’s houses. We went around to record a trumpet player in Possum Creek, John Hoffman. EJ plays drums and couldn’t believe John was in Buddy Rich’s band for 15 years, and played with Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald amongst others he was blown away… John has this amazing house in Possum Creek and we set him up blowing his horn out to the green hills. We were going for a wild-west sound in one of the songs Wild Lonesome Feeling…Daniel Boone style. He really nailed it.”

The final piece to the puzzle occurred when local engineer and producer Anthony Lycenko (Pete Murray) heard the rough mixes and came on board to help produce the final mixes. His contribution really shines through on the recording and raised the quality to an international level.


Media Release for release June, 2009
Firesongs wins North Coast Music Industry Award

Things are moving along nicely for Byron Bay roots artist Cheynne Murphy at the moment. A big show at this years Bluesfest anniversary show amongst the likes of Ben Harper, Michael Franti and Xavier Rudd and recently nominated for two North Coast Music industry awards, otherwise known as ‘dolphin awards’ on the North Coast in two categories Folk and Alternative Country. He took out at the latter, presented by another well known local identity Pete Murray.

“ It was a great honour to be recognised in your local area with local industry and friends present. I only had one song on the CD that sounded a little country so I sent it in. Actually the music has been described variously as folk, alt country, Americana, bluegrass. It seems like its more of a mash of acoustic roots styles but anyway I appreciate the award. It could be my ticket to Tamworth.”

Cheynne’s current EP is doing well, with solid sales nationally and also strong community radio support and ABC coverage. Just recently he ticked another box in his career aspirations list by supporting Jeff Martin at the Great Northern in Byron Bay.

‘Jeff is a big inspiration to me. He has an incredible 12 string sound, a huge voice and has a big international following so it was a total honour. The highlight was when I finished the show he had an impromptu jam with my flute player Ackshay backstage and they ended up jamming in the middle of the show. It was quite a night’.

Currently Cheynne is showcasing the Firesongs EP material with local songwriter Mark Heazlett as a duo who did most of the harmonies on the recording.