SpudShow 122 - Briege Murphy

SpudShow 122

Artist - Briege Murphy

Track 1 - Cloghinn Winds
Track 2 - Sweet baby James

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Lovely Singing, Good Songs, a Joy to hear" - Christy Moore
"She paints pictures with her words" - Frances Black

Briege Murphy was born and reared in the village of Forkhill in South Armagh, in the North of Ireland, where she still lives with her husband and two daughters. Briege grew up on a farm within a large family steeped in the musical tradition. Her mother Brigid was, unwittingly, a collector of songs and stories. Her brother Brian, a well-known traditional singer won the Ulster Championship for traditional singing numerous times. So it is no surprise that music plays a big part of Briege’s life. As a teenager Briege joined her local branch of Comhaltas and often sang in their renowned sessions which is so typical of the Irish scene today. A few years back Briege began to write her own contemporary folk/country ballads and when a demo of two of her songs were played on a weekly BBC Folk Programme, listeners were asking for more. She was persuaded to get her collection of songs together and record an album herself. The album “The Longest Road? was released to critical acclaim, followed by “The Sea and other Songs?, which was named as one of the albums of the year by Folk Roots magazine. Her third album “The Elm Wood? was welcomed and greatly appreciated by a steadily growing fan base. In September 2004 Briege releases a new album entitled “From Now On?. On this album she returns to her roots and sings songs that she grew up with, combining her love of Irish traditional and American folk. Briege has performed at festivals from Cambridge to Cork and Oslo to Ballyshannon. She continues to write and sing at festivals, art centres and folk clubs or anywhere a good ballad is appreciated. Her songs have been recorded by artists like Niamh Parsons and Frances Black amongst others. In November 2003 Briege represented Ireland in an International song contest in Holland, singing one of her own compositions in Gaelic, coming 5th out of 70 bands across Europe.

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