March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 50 F

Keith Murphy at 333 Coffeehouse

The 333 Coffeehouse, Annapolis’ monthly listening space for folk and acoustic music, is pleased to present the singer and guitarist Keith Murphy.

Keith Murphy is a renowned folksinger, guitarist, composer and arranger. His traditional song repertoire is based in his native Newfoundland, Eastern Canada and Québec as well as his current home, Vermont. He revisits classic Newfoundland folk songs, songs he grew up with and now reinterprets after years of musical traveling. With simple yet elegant arrangements pared down to just voice and guitar, Murphy brings the focus back to the beauty of the texts. His direct and intimate style of traditional singing in English and French infuses old ballads and songs with a powerful immediacy. His percussive finger style guitar playing creates a rich palette of textures using multiple open tunings and rhythmic ideas, while also bringing in influences from French Canada which have long been part of his musical profile. The addition of his mandolin, foot percussion and chorus songs makes a well rounded evening of music for lovers of traditional song.

Keith’s 2005 album Bound for Canaan showcased his refined sense of balance between innovation and tradition, while his most recent CD, Suffer No Loss (2014) is a beautifully spare record in the style of early classic recordings of the traditional English and Celtic music revival.

Keith was a founding member of the now-disbanded Nightingale, a trio which broke new ground in its sophisticated approach to traditional music. He performs frequently with his wife, fiddler Becky Tracy (also a Nightingale member). He is a mainstay of the Boston fiddle extravaganza Childsplay, and has also worked extensively with the famed folksinger and scholar Tony Barrand on the song repertoire from the early twentieth century of the Atwood family from Dover, Vermont. Keith and Tony recorded a CD of the Atwoods’ songs, On the Banks of Coldbrook, in 2010.

Keith is an accomplished composer and arranger in the realm of traditional folk music and has also composed for theater and film. He is a featured performer on well over a dozen recordings and a guest musician on numerous others. His versions of traditional songs have inspired recordings by well known groups including Solas, Uncle Earl and Great Big Sea. Several of his compositions were featured in the 2014 Ken Burns documentary The Roosevelts.

Keith is a faculty member of the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) and the artistic director of the BMC’s Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont, which he founded in 2008. He is also the music director for the WGBH Boston public radio’s annual Celtic Sojourn St Patrick’s Day concerts held at Harvard’s Sanders Theater and elsewhere in New England.

Now in its 26th year, the 333 Coffeehouse is an acoustic concert series held the third Friday of the month at the Annapolis Friends Meeting House. It features traditional folk performers and songwriters. 333 is listener-centered, volunteer powered, non-profit, and smoke- and alcohol-free. Inexpensive hot and cold beverages, desserts and snacks are offered. With an intimate performance space and a modest admission price, 333 is a terrific entertainment value.

333 is a program of the Annapolis Traditional Dance Society, an Annapolis 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting tradition-based music and dance.

  • Event: 333 Coffeehouse
  • Who:  Keith Murphy
  • When: Friday, May 19, 2017, 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7:00)
  • Where: Annapolis Friends Meeting House
  • 351 DuBois Rd., Annapolis, MD 21401 (off N. Bestgate Rd)
  • Admission: $12 (students, senior citizens and members $10).

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