David Lee Murphy

Contributing Writer

On his Web site, the bio of David Lee Murphy wastes no time describing him as fun, rocking, rowdy, good times. According to the singer, that hits the nail on the head.

"That's pretty right on it," said the native of Herrin, Ill., a town he says is across the border from Paducah. "Our shows are high energy and pretty rocking. We do a little bit of everything, but the 'good time' part is always in there somewhere."

David Lee will bring his brand of a good time to the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg tonight for a 7:30 p.m. concert. It will be his first visit to the MAC, but Murphy thinks he'll find his kind of Party Crowd when he takes the stage.

"It's gonna' be a fun show," he said. "We have about as much fun getting out there playing for people as they have listening to it, and I think that's a big part of it."

The MAC is located just off Country Music Highway, a stretch of U.S. 23 that honors country music legends such as Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. For Murphy, that makes quite a statement about Eastern Kentucky.

"When you say Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley and Loretta Lynn, right there, you've hit the ball out of the park already," said Murphy, who sprinkles his conversation with several sports metaphors. "It's a great part of the country with great people. And that musical history is just something else. We're gonna be thrilled to come play for you."

Murphy said fans of his music will not be disappointed tonight, with a set featuring classics like "Dust on the Bottle," "Party Crowd" and "Out with a Bang." There will also be a nice mix from his 2004 release Tryin' to Get There, which Murphy says is a fun album that's got a tradition thing to it, but it's also got a rocking thing to it.

The latest CD was seven years in the making, which saw David Lee change record labels and spend a lot of time writing. He isn't bitter at all, saying he prefers his new independent label Audium/Koch Records. It's kind of hard to explain, because there are no logical rules in the music business, comparing it to NASCAR, where he says you can just line 'em up and race.

"I wish there was an explanation for it," he said, "but you just have to make music and go on."

Murphy's new CD featured the single "Loco," a song that got him back in the Top Five on the charts. Murphy said that was very satisfying for him.

"It was really nice to have a song like that, especially on an independent label," he said. "It's kind of like building race cars in your back yard and going out there and racing against (cars owned by) Robert Yates and Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress and those guys.

It was really satisfying to go there on an indy label and get a No. 5 record. I was really tickled and thank all the folks for going out there and supporting us."

Many fans, however, will head to the MAC tonight to hear the classics, and they won't be disappointed. Murphy made quite an impact on country music in 1994 with his CD Out with a Bang, which featured four hit singles, including the classic "Dust on the Bottle," a song about a young man trying to impress a date by stopping in for a visit with a bootlegger named Creal Williams.

"That song completely changed my career," he says with a note of appreciation. "It took it to a whole other level. They're still playing that one on the radio. We go overseas and play and they're singing there might be a little dust on the bottle with a Swiss accent or something like that. It kind of blows your mind."

Murphy hesitated to call it a classic, but acknowledged the difference its made for him. "I don't know who decides that, but I sure am glad it's been a part of my career and that people have taken to it the way they have," he said. "I just feel real fortunate that I had a song like that."

"Dust on the Bottle" was, like most of his songs, either written or co-written by Murphy. In addition, his songs have been recorded by the likes of Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry and Hank Williams Jr.

Murphy says it isn't always easy deciding which songs to shop around and which to hold on to.

"The song Montgomery Gentry and Brooks & Dunn did (they both recorded 'If It's the Last Thing I Do'), I wanted that song for myself. And the song Hank did, 'Just Enough to get in Trouble,' that was definitely going on my album.

"But I grew up loving Hank Jr., and still do. So when Hank wants to record one of your songs, it's just a thrill. It's someone you've listened to all your life, and now they want to record one of your songs.

"Sometimes, however, a line has to be drawn. I had 'Loco' and some people wanted to record that," said Murphy. "I just kind of said, I'm not going to let this one go."

Murphy has recorded two songs he's particularly proud of because of who he shared the pen with. "Why Can't People Just Get Along," from Out With A Bang, is the only song Minnie Pearl ever wrote, and the title track to the Tryin' to Get There CD, which was co-written with Waylon Jennings.

"They're two people I'd watched all my life," he said. "When I met Minnie at the Opry that night and she told me that story about Hank Sr., I felt like I'd known her all my life. And the same thing with Waylon. I had worn out Waylon Jennings records, eight-tracks, cassettes, about any kind of recording I could get, sitting out in a truck somewhere howling at the moon.

"Working with Waylon, that's the biggest highlight of my career."

David Lee Murphy with special guest Joey Martin will be in concert tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Mountain Arts Center. For more information on Murphy, visit him on the World Wide Web at www.davidlee.com.