About Dave Murphy
New Jersey Americana artist Dave Murphy has been recognized time and again for his exceptional storytelling through song. Dubbed “a musical Raymond Carver” by Twin Cities Revue, he earned first place in the Great American Song Contest for his song “Chesapeake” and was named a co-winner at the New Jersey Folk Festival Songwriters Showcase. Additionally, Murphy has been named finalist in several marquee contests, including Kerrville New Folk Contest, Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival Songwriting Contest, Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, and Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival Songwriting Contest.
An accomplished performer, Murphy has toured in the US, Canada, Ireland, and the UK. He’s shared stages with Steve Forbert, Suzanne Vega, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing, Alejandro Escovedo, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and his Chasing Ghosts album featured Nicole Atkins and Forbert. He received consistent airplay for his last four albums on AAA, Americana, and folk radio stations across North America and Europe.
Murphy’s seventh album, A Heart So Rare (out Jan. 31, 2025), is a fearless, heartfelt reflection on human fallibility, love lost, transition, and acceptance. It relays in honest detail the mistakes and longing of a man encountering the weight of divorce, all the while embracing moments of surrender, forgiveness, and mystery. There’s always hope for redemption, and this record beautifully catalogs his journey towards it.
Murphy made A Heart So Rare with producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Tarrow.
“Chris played almost every guitar on this record except for my acoustic parts,” says Murphy, “Electric guitar, pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, banjo, everything with strings on it—he's a master.”
Together, they assembled a crew of heavy-hitters, including legendary Saturday Night Live house drummer Shawn Pelton (Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen), keyboardist Rob Clores (Jesse Malin, Charli XCX, Lucinda Williams), bassist Richard Hammond (Joan Osborne, Hamilton [original Broadway cast]), Grammy-winner Ben Wisch, Todd Caldwell (Graham Nash, Crosby, Stills & Nash), Mark Erelli, and James Maddock.
A Heart So Rare marks a welcome return to today’s thriving Americana music scene for Murphy. The album aptly reflects a man who has watched and weathered a number of storms and finds freedom in the acceptance of the past, the inevitability of change, and his own mortality. At times gritty and dark, at other times optimistic and hopeful, this collection offers audiences a relatable and gratifying listen further elevated by the warm production and tasteful performances of its stellar cast.
Dave’s Previous Work
In the late ‘90s Murphy met pedal steel player Marc Muller (Shania Twain, Bruce Springsteen), who connected him to the NYC alt-country scene and helped with Murphy’s debut album Under the Lights (1998). Muller became intimately involved with Murphy's career, producing his album Chasing Ghosts, co-producing Stories from Snake Hill and Yellow Moon, and playing on all his records except for A Heart So Rare.
After recording Under the Lights, Murphy put out the EP Things I Can’t Forget (2000), featuring Abbie Gardner and the late Rick Gedney, to capture “odds and ends and live recordings.” In the early 2000s, he formed garage-punk band Dave Murphy and the Hamilton Electric with Claude Coleman Jr. of Ween and New Brunswick guitar legend Brian Sugent. Murphy continued to write and reconnected with Marc Muller to record Chasing Ghosts (2003), which features vocals from Steve Forbert and Nicole Atkins.
Murphy was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2003, and he stepped back from being a full-time musician. After a long recovery from substantial surgery, he played locally in NY/NJ, joined songwriting groups, and kept writing. He began recording Stories from Snake Hill (2008) with Billy Masters (Suzanne Vega, Alejandro Escavedo) and ultimately ended up finishing the album with longtime collaborator Muller.
After the release of Stories from Snake Hill Murphy was back in the game, playing festivals and participating in songwriting contests as a Finalist at both the Kerrville Folk Festival and Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival. During this time, he met a woman and moved in with her in Brooklyn, but Murphy was drinking heavily then—the relationship ended messily and led to his sad, angry break-up record Yellow Moon (2011). He decided to get sober in 2010, moved back to New Jersey, and began his journey to recovery while writing the album American Landscape (2016). Murphy made this record with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch.
"Ben and I were talking about working together for years," says Murphy. "We finally made it happen on American Landscape. At the time I’d been spending a lot of time listening to Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs album God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, and I loved his touring band named the Pariah Dogs."
As it turned out, both LA-based drummer Jay Bellerose (T-Bone Burnett, Joe Henry, Aimee Mann) and bass player Jennifer Condos (Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen) were available. So was Boston based guitarist Kevin Barry (Roseanne Cash, Jackson Browne, Ray LaMontagne), So the Pariah Dogs (Bellerose, Condo & Barry) along with the amazing talents of Glen Patscha on keyboards and Lucy Kaplansky on vocals, became the musical foundation of his album American Landscape.
American Landscape received positive reviews, earning Murphy the nickname of “musical Raymond Carver.” Mike Davies of Folk Radio UK said of the album, “The ghost of Old No 1 era Guy Clark looms large...I would heartily recommend that you explore the scenery and share in his triumph.”