Photos: Mark Murphy to Release New Recording BY YOUR SIDE
The guitarist is currently available for interviews to discuss the new release.
Mark Murphy will release his new album By Your Side on October 9, 2026. Following the intimate, exploratory sound of Hiding Place, the record marks Murphy's fourth full-length release and brings his songwriting into its fullest focus yet. Having long balanced original material with carefully chosen interpretations, Murphy draws entirely from his own extensive catalogue for this ten-song collection. The result places his distinctive writing, understated vocal delivery, and instinct for nuanced arrangements at the center of a deeply personal and cohesive record.
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Mark Murphy is currently available for interview Mark Murphy Website
Co-produced by Murphy and longtime collaborator Aaron Nevezie, By Your Side was recorded between The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn and MMM Studio in South Orange, New Jersey. The album expands Murphy's signature meeting point of contemporary folk, jazz-informed pop, and atmospheric songwriting through a richly detailed palette of acoustic and electric guitars, piano, Wurlitzer, organ, layered vocals, strings, and subtle electronic textures. The result is warm and immediate, but carefully constructed, revealing new details through repeated listening.
Murphy is joined by an exceptional ensemble that includes drummers Jeff Ballard and Dan Rieser, pianist and multi-instrumentalist Frank LoCrasto, and vocalist Alexa Barchini. Nevezie contributes bass, percussion, keyboards, and sound design in addition to recording and mixing the album. String arrangements by Christopher White, performed by Shaleah Feinstein, Sean Lim, Carolina Diaz Chan, and Audrey Jellett, bring an added emotional and cinematic dimension to several of the songs.
Across his previous recordings, Murphy has earned recognition for transforming familiar material while placing his own compositions alongside it with equal confidence. By Your Side marks an important progression: an album devoted entirely to his original work. Personal, melodic, and quietly expansive, it brings Murphy's identities as songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer into their clearest focus yet.
About Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist based in South Orange, New Jersey. His music occupies a distinctive space between contemporary folk, jazz-informed pop, and intimate, atmospheric songwriting. With a restrained vocal style, refined guitar work, and a strong instinct for melody and mood, Murphy creates music that favors emotional clarity and subtle detail over excess.
Murphy's recording career began with To Find You There, followed by Slip Away in 2016, Pocketful of Rainbows in 2018, and Hiding Place in 2020. Across these albums, he has brought an individual perspective to both original compositions and carefully reimagined songs by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Randy Newman, The Beatles, The Eagles, and The Police. His arrangements preserve the emotional core of the original material while reshaping its harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and atmosphere.
Collaboration has always been central to Murphy's work. His recordings have featured musicians from the highest levels of contemporary jazz and improvised music, including Jeff Ballard, Jon Cowherd, Dayna Stephens, Gilad Hekselman, Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen, Chris Morrissey, Jonathan Kreisberg and Larry Grenadier. Rather than treating virtuosity as an end in itself, Murphy builds ensembles around sensitivity, interaction, and the ability to serve the song.
His forthcoming fourth album, By Your Side, will be released on October 9, 2026. Written entirely by Murphy and co-produced with Aaron Nevezie, the record represents a significant new chapter in his development as a songwriter and recording artist. Alongside his artistic work, Murphy is also the founder and owner of Mark Murphy's Music in South Orange, where he has created a thriving community centered on music education, performance, and the creative development of young musicians.
