Cheynne Murphy

Hey there....thanks for visiting...enjoy the music...I am an independent artist living just North of Byron Bay, in Australia..Gods country...all this music has been inspired by the country I live in...my inspiration specifically came from the rolling green hills of Byron Bay with its rushing cobbled streams....the lyrical journey of Firesongs For The Soul expresses the healing that can come from nature and a painful breakup..but it also delves deeper into a sense of spirit I feel which is sourced directly by the country around me...in this sense I am a country artist but from a different perspective....my name cheynne comes from a strong American Indian connection but it also has celtic roots.....this was a local production write down to my 5 year old son who created the artwork..I presented the music for the first time in a few country pubs around the shire and then played at Bluesfest 2009 which was incredible. Rubbing shoulders with the Blind Boys of Alabamma literally...Ben Harper, John Butler, Michael Franti...too many to mention to little time..breathe in the air, look around and give gratitude if you can because we all feel the same things...checkout other projects for my other musical expressions....feel free to connect..

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There is a Firesong in Every Soul

A musical journey inspired by the idea of sitting around campfires and singing songs with nothing but some acoustic guitars, a few friends, the crackle of a fire, the stars and perhaps a drink or two sounds like it could be good for the soul. This is what Byron Bay artist Cheynne Murphy thought anyway in 2009 as he set about creating a soulful acoustic based record, rich in harmonies and melody and featuring an array of local talent.

As cheynne recalls: “Byron Bay is such a magical place and as such the recording process was full of these magic moments. One day the engineer EJ 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.”

It seems the rolling hills of Byron are imbedded into the DNA of the Firesongs project which features an effortless and soulful acoustic blend based on well crafted songs, sublime harmonies and an eclectic erray of local sounds including viola, trumpet, banjo, finger picking guitar and even bansuri flute played by a Bombay native visiting the area. There is also a haunting aching which comes through the lyrics and vocal performance.

“I was coming out of a painful marriage breakup with small children involved. The music was my balm in this process. My friends became my fireside companions. My son who was five did all the artwork which helped his process I am sure. Ultimately the record is about moving on and getting re-inspired” says Cheynne.

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.

Firesongs for the Soul has picked up a swag of industry accolades including a North Coast music industry award in 2009 but the pinnacle for Cheynne was performing on the 2009 20th Anniversary Bluesfest stage alongside Ben Harper, Michael Franti, and the Blind Boys of Alabama amongst others.

Cheynne is currently recording his follow up EP Firesongs for the Soul II : Spaces In-between which is due for release in the October 2010.