As far as Kevin Murphy is concerned, you can call his music whatever you want.
People sometimes labels his Seattle-based band, the Moondoggies, as roots or Americana or, to use a phrase from another era, folk rock.
One thing he'd rather you not call it, and that's retro. As Murphy sees it, this is music for today -- and for tomorrow as well, if fortune smiles.
"I've always resented when people call stuff 'throwback,' " said Murphy, calling from his Seattle home. "What does that mean? Does good music go stale? What really gets me is the music they are referring to, comparing us to, like The Band and things like that, didn't even happen all that long ago.
"Really, this sort of music has never gone away. I feel the goal of music, any music, is to become timeless. But I guess if people don't see us with computers on stage, or playing some heavy beat, they call it retro. But really, what I am a fan of is rock 'n' roll, and that is what I think we play."
Out with the tide
The band, which plays its second show at The State Room on Tuesday, released its second full-length album, "Tidelands," in October.
"The first one (2008's 'Don't Be a Stranger') was definitely about throwing all the songs on there -- and we paid for it ourselves. When you do that first one, you don't know if you will get another chance. But when this album came along, we had more room to experiment and try to put more of a cohesive, comprehensive feel."
Murphy and the core of this band (Robert Terreberry, bass; Carl Dahlen, drums; Caleb Quick, keyboards) played together as teenagers at Cascade High School in Everett, Wash. One thing they discovered, even when they were playing heavier sounds, was a knack for three-part vocal harmony.
In 2005, Murphy took off for Alaska for the summer, doing odd jobs during the tourism season. When he returned to the Lower 48, he had a boatload of songs and seed stock for many more.
"I was writing songs every day while I was up there, to keep my sanity -- at least a couple of songs. Some of them still jump up in my head and I try to grab them. I still draw from that well of melodies, from that time."
Before his tenure in Alaska, Murphy and the other Moondoggies played punk and garage band-flavored stuff in their first outfit, the Familiars. But the songs Murphy began to craft in Alaska led them in a different direction, one that nurtured their three-part vocal harmonies.
"It is still generating benefits for me, those Alaska songwriting sessions," Murphy said. "This has been a matter of buckling down and getting into something really new. Now I am seriously working to find my voice."
A team effort
Though Murphy believes he is still trying to home in on what it means to write timeless tunes, he enjoys the process.
"I like it when I come up with something I like," he said. "But I am not great with structure, which is important in this style, so that is the part I hate. That aspect is what is good about the other guys in the band. Sometimes I get lucky and get a beginning, middle and end, but for me it is hard to get the period at the end. So they rein me in a little bit. The more people participate, the better the results seem to be. I love having them to sound off on, and get their ideas."
The State Room show next week is the band's second at that venue. The first time the musicians played there, in March, they were delayed by snow.
Said Murphy: "We showed up kind of late, but people soon forgave us. We had a good reception there.
"But one thing I do regret. We had this sound guy there that was amazing -- but unfortunately, he walked up and overheard us talking about the sound man from the night before, who wasn't so good."
Murphy and the band were told off in no uncertain terms, especially in light of their own tardiness hindering the sound check.
Feeling contrite about it, Murphy took time to find the club's manager and rave about the job The State Room sound man had done, and tried to clean up the misunderstanding.
"He said he'd pass it on, and I really hope he did, and that there are no hard feelings. I hope their sound guy understood later that we all thought he was awesome and we are excited to have him again."
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