By: Vandal Truong

Jessie Murphy In The Woods is a trio combining alt-folk, kitsch humor, jazz, and maybe everything in between. According to the band's MySpace site, they are, "Vampire Weekend meets Neko Case meets The Carter Family at a salon hosted jointly by Stevie Nicks and Emily Dickinson." That may sound bizarre but the description is fairly accurate. The band consists of Marcia Webb (flute, pipes, and symbols), Amy Stratton (horn, bells, and the triangle – yes, the triangle!), and Jessie Murphy (lead vocals, acoustic guitar). Meeting Jessie Murphy was a combination of getting hit by a happy-go-lucky whirlwind and and then having an herbal tea afterwards. She is a charming, sensitive, quick-witted artist whose talent is matched only by her generous heart.

VANDAL TRUONG: Talk to me about your early influences.
JESSIE MURPHY: I loved the blues so much. I just wanted to play blues guitar. I was hung up on the fact that I felt too white, too privileged, and too much of a girl to go for it in a way. I didn't intellectually reason with all that. I still pursued it. I'm very cool with that now and want to actually get back to playing the blues. But it was this constant thing listening to so much blues and so many songs, all the song writing was coming from a very concrete life experience. Authentic as authentic gets. It wasn't anything I was applying to anyone else. I was applying it to myself. I had this hang up about really being honest about the music I did. Not trying to be anyone else but at the same time I just loved this music so much and I wanted to play it. I revered it too much.

VT: But you did over overcome this feeling of awe and you've created a very special, unique sound. What would you say is important to you as an artist, what you want to put out in the world?
JM: It changes moment to moment. I try not to control so much what the songs are about, they sort of happen. It's whatever sort of inspires me. I guess I have a fairly empathic world view. When I really stand in that place in my life, I find some of the most riches in experiencing people or listening to them. Sometimes I feel like my songwriting is – or something I want to be – is to give a voice to the some of these things I've heard.

VT: Your songs are almost mystical, sort of like darkly humored fairy tales set to rock music. Would you agree with that?
JM: I do. I think there's a lot of play in my songs. They're playful. Dark humor. I write from my heart. I think some people write more from their head. Some people write from a combination of the two. I think sometimes I've been short on the head and heavy on the heart. Maybe now I'll balance that out more. A saint once said, "The heart is a hub of all sacred places; go there and roam."

VT: "New York City Lights" is a crowd favorite and one of my personal favorite love letters to the city. How did being a New Yorker influence that?
JM: I'm just a small town girl...
(Her cell phone rings, she sees the caller and answers, "Marcia! I'm doing the interview for Knocks From The Underground. Right now! Say hi."  She hands the phone over; it's Marcia Webb, who plays flute and pipes)

VT: Hi Marcia. So how does it feel to be the brains of the operation? Or are you the brawn?
JM: She's the butt!
VT (into phone): Do you have a stick you hit them with?
JM: What's she saying?!
MARCIA WEBB: There's no violence amongst the group.
VT: That's too bad. Hmm, well that pretty much gives me no where to go with this interview then.
JM: Tell her one word to her.
VT: What? Give her a word?
JM: Cruciatus.
VT: Cozyiattus?
JM: Cruciatus.
VT (into phone): Cruciatus.
VT: She said something back to me that sounded like that word.
JM: It's one of the curses from Harry Potter.
VT (into phone): Well on that note, our Frost/Nixon session shall conclude. (Hands the phone back to JM)

(Moments later...)
VT: We were talking about how the vast majority of independent bands are not from here. They are comprised of people who have migrated here. You, however, were born and raised in Manhattan. What has that been like?
JM: I'm very lucky. I'm very privileged in people. My parents are still here. My brother is here. Growing up in New York? It's challenging. It's a very challenging and inspiring place. Manhattan is a very special place. I think the land itself has mystical properties. There's so much energy here. The song I wrote "In The Woods," is the irony of the band's name. Most of my contact in nature is human nature. Often times we talk about the sanctity of the natural world and we exclude ourselves. We're nature, too. We're human beings and Manhattan is a human forest. I have a lot of love and respect for Manhattan. "City Lights" is about that. It's sort of the entity, the body of the republic that is Manhattan. Everything about it.

VT: Is there an artists' community amongst independent musicians in the city?
JM: Not as much as I'd like. With Lorraine Leckie, something I started doing with HERE was every month I used to have a music party. Different songwriters, BYOB, and there was no agenda behind it. It was just getting together to play music. It was really an eclectic group of people. That was the most music community I felt in New York. I think what put the damper on music communities in New York is places people live in and how much sound you can make. Because it's difficult to form a community out of clubs where the clubs' agenda and business enterrpsieses are superceding any kind of human interaction or generosity. And the fact people live spread out and often not in places not conducive to getting together and jamming, just getting influenced by one another. Supporting artists is very important to me and my own art. So I do it on a daily basis, my own connection to a musical community in the city.

VT: Do you find there is a difference in energy or interaction amongst other female artists?
JM: No, not at all. I try to be excited about everybody. Whoever is out there in earnest making something with the intention to share with others, even if I don't really like their music honestly, I tend to be excited about them and excited for them. I don't really distinguish male/female. I love meeting artists. In the history of things, anyone playing popular music is playing folk music. We're playing music for the people.

Jessie Murphy In The Woods will play The American Folk Art Museum in NYC July 31st and then tour Los Angeles in August.