Keith Murphy returns to Sterling College, performing traditional and modern ballads and discussing the cultural transmission of European ballads to the U.S. and Canada.

The performance will be at Simpson Hall, Classroom 3, on October 13 at 7 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $10.
Murphy has revisited some of the most well known, classic Newfoundland folk songs, songs he grew up with and now reinterprets after years of musical traveling. With simple yet elegant arrangements of traditional songs pared down to just voice and guitar, Murphy brings the focus back to the beauty of these texts. He creates a rich palette of textures using multiple open tunings and rhythmic ideas on the guitar, while also bringing in influences from French Canada which has long been part of his musical profile.

Murphy was a founding member of Nightingale, a trio which broke new ground in its sophisticated approach to traditional music. He is a mainstay of the Boston fiddle extravaganza Childsplay and has also worked extensively with Tony Barrand on the song repertoire from the early twentieth century of the Atwood family from Dover, Vermont. He also appears frequently with his wife, fiddler Becky Tracy.

Murphy 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.

Oct 17, 2024, 5 to 7 PM

Oct 19, 2024, 12 to 2:30 PM

Oct 24, 2024, 2 to 5 PM