Minnie Murphy

Minnie Murphy works primarily in country as both pianist and singer, yet her poised vocals—alternately cheeky, seductive, or world-weary—carry an underlying jazz inflection that lends her strongest performances an immediate, luminous quality. Raised in Bellingham, WA, as the child of working musicians, she absorbed music from infancy; her father directed his own ensemble while her mother performed as vocalist and keyboardist. The household environment nurtured her own abilities early on, leading her to join her father onstage at neighborhood taverns and clubs and to refine her keyboard technique under her mother’s guidance. In time the pair began composing material together, and Murphy eventually secured a recurring weekend engagement as singer and pianist at a Bellingham venue. Additional motivation arrived through her half-sister Jamie O’Neal, a recording artist on the 1720 Entertainment roster; the two shared several prominent stages, among them an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Murphy kept writing with relatives before relocating to Nashville, TN, to establish a professional career. After signing with Montage Music Group she issued her first album, Take Me to Texas, in 2008.