John Murry Announces New EP 'Califorlornia'

It's not easy to hold an unclouded mirror up to the world. The temptation to fog up truths or angle them in ways that are less painful is nigh irresistible. To look at things as they are - warts and all, good and bad - requires a brave heart and sturdy constitution. To then stir that honest stuff into songs that communicate successfully to others is rarer still. This is what Oakland, CA-based singer-songwriter John Murry does with clear-eyed, unsentimental efficiency. Cut from the same cloth as Elliott Smith, Lou Reed, Jeff Tweedy and Darkness On The Edge of Town-era Springsteen, Murry faces what he sees in the glass unflinchingly and then turns the mirror on us in ways that allow one to see their own reflection in sharper focus.

Murry's new EP, Califorlornia (arriving June 17, 2014), continues his evolution, showing off more modern rock curves and building on the buzzing, very alive production direction he embarked on with the late Tim Mooney (American Music Club) on The Graceless Age. The EP features two songs co-written with longtime fellow traveler Chuck Prophet (Green On Red), a cover of Warren Zevon's "Genius," and a tribute to Mooney called "Timmy". Courtesy of American Songwriter, you can listen and share the second track, the California-inspired "Golden State" HERE.

The combination of emotionally unsparing, high-minded thinking, streetwise poetry, and gutbucket execution is also visible on Murry's full-length album, The Graceless Age, which will see a re-release on June 17th as well.

A Tupelo, Mississippi native, Murry brings some of the literary heft of his second cousin, William Faulkner, to his music but there's no mistaking that he's up to rock & roll business. His sound howling with electricity, distortion, and ornery, primal growl, the rabblerousing spirit of the MC5 and Patti Smith are breathing anew through Murry on both of these introspective records.

To post a comment, you must register and login.