The Shaun Murphy Band
Encyclopedia
The Shaun Murphy Band was founded in early 2009 by veteran
blues
and soul
singer Shaun Murphy
. Within a matter of a few weeks after release of the band's first album, Livin' The Blues'
, the album jumped to position 10 on the Roots Report Top 50 Blues Weekly Chart. This chart is a composite of the number of "spins" or radio
play throughout the United States
.
, in the early seventies, was noticed by personnel from Motown Records
in a local theater production. (Murphy previously had a few years of experience singing in local Detroit bands, after high school where she gained singing experience in choir). She recorded an album with Meat Loaf, under a subsidiary of Motown, Rare Earth Records. The duo, Stoney & Meatloaf
, recorded only one album under the label. The group was short lived. Murphy was retained under contract by Motown after the album release. She then went on over the years to tour and do studio work with Eric Clapton
, Joe Walsh
, Bob Seger
, The Moody Blues
, Bruce Hornsby
, Glenn Frey
, Phil Collins
, John Hiatt
, Leon Russell
, Alice Cooper
, Ted Nugent
, Sheena Easton
, Little Feat
, and many others.
's Hartt College of Music, performing with and under the direction of such notables as Aaron Copland
, Isaac Stern
, Leonard Rose
, and various soloists from the New York City
and Metropolitan Opera
(s). In the late 70's, his group evolved into the Kansas City Blues Band which recorded and toured during the 80's. Eventually, Larry hit the road, and shared the stage with legends like Muddy Waters
, B. B. King
, Willie Dixon
, John Lee Hooker
, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Buddy Guy
, Martha Reeves
, Jay McShann
, Gregg Allman
, Air Supply
, The Winans
, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and Oleta Adams
to name a few.
Mike Caputy, Buffalo, N.Y., drummer, hit the Buffalo music scene playing for Ike Smith and "Free Spirit." Caputy quickly made a name for himself. At age 21, Caputy earned his first triple
platinum
record
with R&B soul artist Rick James
. Caputy has worked with a wide variety of musical talent including T. Graham Brown
, David Lee Murphy
, Johnny Neel, Big & Rich
, Marty Stuart
, and Rick James. He was inducted into the 'Buffalo Music Hall of Fame' in 2002.
Kenne Cramer Kenne attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles
, honing his craft on guitar with such noted players as Pete Anderson
, Jennifer Batten
, and Jesse Gresse, among others. In 1989 Kenne began touring full time with T. Graham Brown
. In 1992, Cramer started working with Lee Roy Parnell
who used Cramer on many of his demo sessions including the recording: "Rockin' the House", used by the Texas Rangers
. During the next eight years, Cramer found himself touring with several national and international acts, beginning with Ronnie Milsap
. While playing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Cramer caught the ear of international singer Engelbert Humperdink, leading to tours all over the world and the opportunity to record two albums and a live video concert.
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy (singer)
Shaun Murphy is an American R&B singer songwriter, best known for her powerhouse singing style. Her recording career started in 1971 with Motown Records and continues to this day.-Biography:...
. Within a matter of a few weeks after release of the band's first album, Livin' The Blues'
Livin' The Blues (album)
Livin' The Blues is an album recorded by The Shaun Murphy Band, released in September 2009. It was the first release by Shaun Murphy after leaving Little Feat in February 2009.The album was recorded at The Colemine Studios and produced by Randy Coleman....
, the album jumped to position 10 on the Roots Report Top 50 Blues Weekly Chart. This chart is a composite of the number of "spins" or radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
play throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early career of Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy, living in her then home town of Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, in the early seventies, was noticed by personnel from Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
in a local theater production. (Murphy previously had a few years of experience singing in local Detroit bands, after high school where she gained singing experience in choir). She recorded an album with Meat Loaf, under a subsidiary of Motown, Rare Earth Records. The duo, Stoney & Meatloaf
Stoney & Meatloaf
Stoney and Meatloaf is the little known debut album of singer Meat Loaf, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary label Rare Earth, a collaboration with female vocalist Shaun Murphy...
, recorded only one album under the label. The group was short lived. Murphy was retained under contract by Motown after the album release. She then went on over the years to tour and do studio work with Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
, The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
, Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
, Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey
Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, John Hiatt
John Hiatt
John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other...
, Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
, Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
, and many others.
Band members 2009
Larry Van Loon studied at the University of HartfordUniversity of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
's Hartt College of Music, performing with and under the direction of such notables as Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
, Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...
, and various soloists from the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
(s). In the late 70's, his group evolved into the Kansas City Blues Band which recorded and toured during the 80's. Eventually, Larry hit the road, and shared the stage with legends like Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
, Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, Martha Reeves
Martha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, Jay McShann
Jay McShann
Jay McShann was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer....
, Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
, Air Supply
Air Supply
Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...
, The Winans
The Winans
The Winans are an American Gospel music quartet from Detroit, Michigan consisting of brothers Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald Winans.-Members:Please refer to the Winans family page for more detail on the individual members.-Origins:...
, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and Oleta Adams
Oleta Adams
Oleta Adams is an American soul, jazz, and gospel singer and pianist.-Biography:Adams was born the daughter of a preacher and was raised with gospel music. In her youth her family moved to Yakima, Washington, which is sometimes shown as her place of birth.Before gaining her opportunity to perform,...
to name a few.
Mike Caputy, Buffalo, N.Y., drummer, hit the Buffalo music scene playing for Ike Smith and "Free Spirit." Caputy quickly made a name for himself. At age 21, Caputy earned his first triple
Triple
Triple, a doublet of "treble" or "threefold" , is used in several contexts:* Triple metre, a musical metre characterized by a primary division of three beats to the bar...
platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
record
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
with R&B soul artist Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
. Caputy has worked with a wide variety of musical talent including T. Graham Brown
T. Graham Brown
Anthony "T." Graham Brown is an American country music artist. Active since 1986, Brown has recorded a total of thirteen studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
, David Lee Murphy
David Lee Murphy
David Lee Murphy is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 1994, Murphy made his first appearance on the Billboard country charts that year with "Just Once", a song from the soundtrack to the 1994 film 8 Seconds. A year later, Murphy's debut album Out with a Bang was...
, Johnny Neel, Big & Rich
Big & Rich
Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich. Both members alternate as lead vocalists and play rhythm guitar...
, Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
, and Rick James. He was inducted into the 'Buffalo Music Hall of Fame' in 2002.
Kenne Cramer Kenne attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, honing his craft on guitar with such noted players as Pete Anderson
Pete Anderson
Pete Anderson is an American guitarist and music producer.Anderson is most known for his guitar work with, and critically acclaimed production of, country music star Dwight Yoakam from 1984 through 2002...
, Jennifer Batten
Jennifer Batten
Jennifer Batten is an American guitarist, who has worked as both a session musician and solo artist. She has released three studio albums: her 1992 debut, Above Below and Beyond, was produced by former Stevie Wonder guitarist Michael Sembello. In 1997, she released the worldbeat-influenced Jennifer...
, and Jesse Gresse, among others. In 1989 Kenne began touring full time with T. Graham Brown
T. Graham Brown
Anthony "T." Graham Brown is an American country music artist. Active since 1986, Brown has recorded a total of thirteen studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
. In 1992, Cramer started working with Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell is an American country music artist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
who used Cramer on many of his demo sessions including the recording: "Rockin' the House", used by the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
. During the next eight years, Cramer found himself touring with several national and international acts, beginning with Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
. While playing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Cramer caught the ear of international singer Engelbert Humperdink, leading to tours all over the world and the opportunity to record two albums and a live video concert.