Chris Murphy: “The Red Road” (2024) CD Review

Last year, violinist, singer and songwriter Chris Murphy released The Road And The Stars, a compilation of earlier music. Now he takes us on a different road, this time featuring new material, on the EP The Red Road. As with his 2022 release Two Rivers Crossing, this EP is a true solo album, with Chris Murphy on violin and vocals, unaccompanied. He also wrote all the songs. This EP was produced by Ben Vaughn. The disc’s cool artwork, by the way, was done by Jon Langford of The Mekons.

Chris Murphy opens the EP with “Never Learned To Drive,” a seriously fun number, one that shows his sense of humor, his sense of play in lines like these: “Forty years taking bus 44/Get to my job sweeping floors/Hey, mister driver, when do you arrive/You know, it’s my fault/I never learned to drive.” He keeps a steady beat, which might be reason enough to get out of your seat and dance about, but also there is the great energy of his violin playing. Well, he might not have been behind on the wheel on the first song, but he certainly is on the second track, “Worn Thin,” which starts with these lines: “Made a left, should’ve made a right/Now I’m late, gonna run that light.” This one has a cool, bluesy vibe, particularly in the vocal line. The main line is “It’s my patience, it’s been worn thin,” something I think most of us can relate to, at least in certain areas of life these days. And when he sings, “Gets on my nerves just to hear your voice,” we each probably have at least one specific person in mind. And though there is a tension to this piece, to its pulse, the violin work at the end is rather beautiful, leaving us in perhaps a more hopeful state.

The EP’s title track, “The Red Road,” begins with some strong work on violin. This song’s first line, “Ain’t got no answers, only questions,” is as honest a line as they come. Ah, if only everyone could be that honest. Aren’t we all a little tired of people who claim they have all the answers, when it is clear that they don’t have even one? But the line that makes me smile every time I listen to this song is “She’s a red head, likes the Grateful Dead.” Hell, she sounds perfect. This is another fun number, with a bright feel that might make you feel like dancing. Well, don’t be shy about it. “Don’t want to replace it, I’m gonna embrace it/Gonna walk on down that line.” That’s followed by “The Complete Works Of Edgar Allen Poe,” a song I knew I would love before I even popped in the disc the first time. I mean, come on, there was no way I not going to enjoy a song titled “The Complete Works Of Edgar Allen Poe.” And, yes, the author’s name is Edgar Allan Poe, not Edgar Allen Poe, but that is explained in the line, “She left a note, misspelled a word.” “Leaves rustling, as the wind did blow/Sounded like the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe.” This song contains a reference to Shakespeare’s work as well: “It’s the winter of my discontent/All the dreams I had, well, they up and went.” That makes me love it all the more. For anyone who is unaware, the first lines of Richard The Third are, “Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York.” The EP then closes with “Tara McKinley,” yet another fun song, this one moving at a good pace. It’s also another with a dose of humor to the lyrics, heard in his delivery of lines like “She ran away to Europe with some Italian dude/It lasted six months, she had a bad attitude” and “Sometimes I miss her, but it’s not for long.” This is a totally enjoyable conclusion to a wonderful EP.

CD Track List

1. Never Learned To Drive
2. Worn Thin
3. The Red Road
4. The Complete Works Of Edgar Allen Poe
5. Tara McKinley

The Red Road was released on July 5, 2024.