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Lauren Murphy, alone or with her latest music ensemble, Lauren Murphy & The Psychedelics, brings the very essence of the classic San Francisco sound to the stage. Having performed with some the Bay Area's most famous and respected musicians, she can always be found delighting audiences everywhere with her inimitable style. In a crowded field of sometimes repetitious music mediocracy, it's refreshing to experience Murphy's gift for originality and soul-stirring performances. - Johnny Cole The Southland Music Line” - Johnny Cole

Southland Music Line

Filmed in the Ben Main Library in Downtown Mobile, focusing on local up & coming artist.   http://local15tv.com/features/music-from-the-stacks/lauren-murphy-09-18-2017 ” - Lauren Murphy

— WPMI NBC Live Music from the Stacks

I should probably lead into what's likely to be a deep look into this extraordinary 10-song CD with something snappy, or possibly something erudite and intellectual. I can't. Not going to happen. Every song on Lauren Murphy's "El Dorado" hits in places that everyone who ever draws breath is likely to feel: maybe as a sudden flush of the cheeks, as a tightening of the muscles that control laughter or tears, or maybe in the pit of the stomach. Speaking strictly for myself, it hits in all those places and more. Emotional honesty, the real deal, takes a lot to ignore. Certainly it takes more than I've got. Reaction to the weight of that honesty, at least my reaction, is not likely to be technical coherence. Okay. Now that I've got that first exhale out of the way, a few comments on the bigger picture ((Click the link to read Full Review))” - Deborah Grabien

No Depression

Press Play: Lauren Murphy's 'El Dorado,' an album of loss and love By Paul Liberatore liberatore@marinij.com @LibLarge on Twitter POSTED:   01/08/2015 04:30:49 PM PST Lauren Murphy's CD "El Dorado Singer-songwriter Lauren Murphy dedicates "El Dorado," a collection of heartfelt Americana, to her late husband, Judge Murphy, her singing partner in the Marin band Lansdale Station. The album title was inspired by the county where he died of liver cancer in 2013. The couple moved there with their daughter after decades on the Marin music scene. Murphy wrote eight of the 10 songs on "El Dorado," including the ardent ballad "Love Again." In her quavering vibrato, she pours her pain and loss into the song, conveying both grief and hope, singing, "I will find peace within/I will learn to love again. She mourns the passing of another beloved local musician, saxophonist Martin Fierro, on "True," an acoustic ballad featuring Mark Karan on 12-string guitar and Jonny Flores of the band Achilles Wheel on National steel guitar. In true Americana fashion, she based the songs "For the Love of Ellen," an uptempo tune showcasing Will Kimbrough on dobro and mandolin, and "Sweet Louisa," another sprightly story song of death and lost love, on Gold Rush women buried in Coloma's Pioneer Cemetery. She continues that historical theme with the Tom Russell penned "Hallie Lonnigan," a brisk country tune with Dave Zirbel leading the way on pedal steel and banjo. Recorded at Cotati's Prairie Sun Studios, the album is grounded by the rhythm section of drummer Vince Littleton and bassist Paul Olquin. Ryan Scott adds a brassy sound to the string band ensemble, playing trumpet on the toe tapping "The Ballad of Booker & Honey. With "El Dorado," Murphy carries on a musical career she once shared with her husband. Listening to it, you can't help thinking he'd be proud of her.  This week: "El Dorado," Lauren Murphy, independent, laurenmurphymusic.com, CD Baby, $15 CD, $9.99 download Hear her live: 7 p.m. March 1, Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, with Jessica Fierro and Achilles Wheel, $17 to $19 ” - Paul Liberatore

The Marin Independent Journal