By St. Luke Community
Broadly acknowledged as “the premier interpreter of songs and tales about the Great Lakes,” Lee Murdock has uncovered a boundless body of music and stories in his home region. There is an amazing timelessness to this music.
Great Lakes songs are made of hard work, hard living, ships that go down, and ships that come in. The music is grounded in the work song tradition. From the rugged days of lumberjacks and wooden sailing schooners, Murdock comes alongside with original ballads of contemporary commerce and revelry in the grand folk style.
Since 1980, Murdock has released 19 albums/CDs, and has performed across North America. Murdock’s nineteenth CD, What About the Water, was released in fall 2014, and weighed in at Number 14 on the Folk Radio Charts for USA and Canada.
Noted as a fluent instrumentalist on the six and twelve-string guitars, Lee Murdock’s musical influences span fifteen generations. Moving easily from 17th century Irish harp music, to Scott Joplin guitar rags, and embracing the blues, freshwater shanties, original songs, and ballads, the musical styles are as varied as the cadences of the stories he tells.
Murdock’s songs create an unforgettable image of commerce and recreation as they coexist on the Great Lakes today, with huge cargo ships traversing vital shipping lanes while pleasure craft of all types and sizes share the waters along America’s fourth coast.
On Friday, February 20, 2015, Murdock will present a concert, beginning at 8:00 p.m. at The Common Cup Coffeehouse, in the lower level of the University Lutheran Chapel, 1511 Washtenaw Avenue, in Ann Arbor. This all-ages concert is free to the public, and donations will be accepted to benefit the Living Water Land Fund.
