SIMPLY SIX: Jessie Murphy In The Woods

Jessie Murphy In The Woods is from New York City.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

Singing sort of found me through songwriting. There was no defining moment where I first wanted to sing however there very much was a moment like that when I realized that I wanted to play guitar. When I was a Senior in High School I was dating a kid who was already a gigging blues guitarist at 17. One night I went to one of his gigs at this crappy bar near the airport in Newark, NJ. I was utterly transfixed. I knew that I didn't want to be the girl out there watching - I wanted to be up onstage doing THAT. And so my torrid affair with the electric guitar began and some how I ended up an acoustic guitar playing songwriter...That said I think I hear my telecaster calling and will likely have to answer sometime soon. Telecasters are tempermental, if you don't take their calls they're prone to tantrums and fits of beating you over the head with their headstocks.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

When I walk around the city and feel to tired to drag myself from Subway station to destination I like things like Chromeo, Michael Jackson, Jay Z... At home you can find me spinning Ray Charles, The Beatles and Joni Mitchell on Vinyl... Conor Oberst, Maria Taylor, and T Rex on CD...Recent MP3 purchases include Bon Iver, Ray LaMontaigne, Rosemary Clooney, and Midlake

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

I think our most recent show was our best so far - at The Living Room in NYC - but we seem to be hitting a benchmark like that every 3 or 4 months. We keep growing and brightening as a band and every few months we kick it up a notch. Thanks for asking.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

I think music has a profound effect on both the individual and the collective audience. In a complete and transcendent listening experience, the listener feels so sympathetic to the music, so resonant with it's frequency that the music seems to becoming from within them rather than from an external source, that it seems to be their own voice singing to them and not the voice of a distant other. I believe it is through each individual's awakening to a larger consiousness that real change will be manifested in the world. Music already has and will continue to play an important role in this awakening.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

God Bless Garage Band.
MP3s are so fun and practical.
and as Gillian Welch put is so profoundly in her song...

"Everything is free now
That's what they say
Everything I ever done
Gonna give it away.
Someone hit the big score
They figured it out
They were gonna do it anyway
Even if doesn't pay."

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

I"m going ot answer for all three of us woods on this one (that would be me, Jessie and Amy and Marcia)

Jessie: Nike Free
Amy: Prada Red
Marcia: Ballet Flat