Acclaimed LA violinist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Murphy will be kicking off his UK tour at the Old Warehouse in Kingsbridge on July 2.
His his new single, 'I Never Learned To Drive' was released on June 3.
It is the first single is from his new EP, 'The Red Road,' due on July 5.
Describing the new single Chris says, "This is a song about the most disenfranchised, misunderstood and under-acknowledged minority in Los Angeles: people who don't drive! Summoning up the spirit of Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, and John Hiatt, I never learned to drive is an anthem for the ages."
On his new EP, The Red Road- the 21st release of his wildly prolific career - stalwart LA-based violinist and songsmith Chris Murphy sets aside the grand Americana arrangements and star-studded musician rosters of his previous albums for a largely solo violin-and-voice affair that mirrors the deceptively simple sleight-of-hand magic he creates in his many sought-after one-man shows across the US and Europe. At the production helm again is the immensely respected player-producer Ben Vaughn, a man known for capturing vital, visceral performances in virtually any musical setting.
Where epic full-length albums like the recent The Road and the Stars and Secrets of Navigation found their North Star in wide ambiences, rolling basslines, and rich percussive beds from the likes of Joachim Cooder, DJ Bonebrake and the Attractions' Pete Thomas, here Murphy accents the fiddle's natural rhythmic properties and leans on more immediate, familiar room spaces to create dimension around his resonant bow. Recorded in Hawaii, where "laid-back" is a distinct state of mind, The Red Road is a playful and casual offering from an artist who typically revels in more stylistically mischievous and ambitious climates.
Instead, steadying his instrument to deliver hypnotic, foot-stomping two-beat fiddle grooves, with hints of Celtic, Appalachian, and post-modern boho jazz topping the rhythms - think everyone from Clannad to pre-skronk Tom Waits - Murphy goes all in with his songwriting game.
He takes a wry, self-effacing look at what might be called "romantic fatigue" on tunes like "The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe", "Wore Thin", and "Tara McKinley"