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By: Alan Rhody
 Lansdale Station by Bob Minkin |
Though the sepia-toned front cover art of Lansdale Station's signature CD, Lansdale Station featuring Judge and Lauren Murphy (self-released last December) depicts a leggy beauty backed by a gang of four black-clad outlaws stiffly posed on the railroad tracks, you'd be incorrect to assume that this album is intended to showcase a fashionable solo act supported by non-descript cowboys. Rather the photo on the back cover - a relaxed shot of husband/wife Judge and Lauren Murphy gazing lovingly into each other's eyes at the station - more accurately depicts what this musical endeavor is all about: The successful marriage of two contrasting styles into a pleasing and unique blend of authentic Americana.
A native of Northern California, Judge is known to many jam band fans as the gravely-voiced guy in Zero who, in addition to Jerry Garcia, really took possession of a dozen or so Robert Hunter tunes and made them his own (a result of Hunter's collaboration with Zero in the early '90s). No one sings "Catalina," "Horses" or "Pits of Thunder" like Judge Murphy. Characterized by a blue-collar gruffness that is more distinctive than abrasive, his vocal style includes elements of R&B, soul and blues. He is especially adept at straight out, kick-ass barroom rock & roll.
In contrast, Lauren has an angelic voice anchored in her native Louisiana. As evidenced by her portfolio, she has an impressive and versatile range that encompasses truck stop country, airy folk, sultry blues, swamp boogie and Southern rock. She'd sound equally genuine at a recital, coffee shop, or honky-tonk. Although she has been compared to Joni Mitchell (most probably based on her solo studio work), she is easily capable of conjuring up a much less gentile persona when performing onstage with an electric band. Perhaps the former reference was to her proficient songwriting abilities, which are featured on this latest release. Four of the seven songs on the CD are credited to her.
As within the traditional American melting pot, their two diverse styles successfully blend together (with just the right amounts of additional instrumental spices) to create a very tasty vocal gumbo. Actually, it might be more accurate to use the American tapestry as a metaphor; for on this recording the two vocalists remain sonically distinct, but are interwoven to create a complimentary quilt of duets artfully sown into a background of tight musicianship. It seems the expression "a marriage made in heaven" fits more than just their personal lives. The CD is dedicated in loving memory to the legendary saxophonist, the late Martin Fierro (Legion of Mary, Zero, and too many more to name), and we'd like to think he'd agree.
We caught up with Lauren and Judge soon after their recent 10th wedding anniversary.
JamBase: How would you describe your latest collaborative release, Lansdale Station?
 Vintage Lansdale Station
Lauren & Judge Murphy w/ Rich Kirch & Liam Hanrahan |
Lauren Murphy: It's a reflection of our roots, pulling from my Southern rock/country blues influences and Judge's R&B, psychedelic Bay Area upbringing. For me, it's the most cohesive piece of art with which I've ever been involved.
JamBase: Why did you release this material now?
Lauren Murphy: The band originally formed in 2005 as a result of a recording for my CD, Magnolia Heart. That body of work is primarily a Lauren thing. During the sessions, we got a call from Phil Lesh's publicist, J.C. Juanis, who said, "I need some help at a benefit. Do you ever do anything together [with Judge]?" To which I said, "Yes!," got off the phone, and said, "Hey honey, we're doing a show! Better work up some songs." Since then, Lansdale Station has grown into a solid entity. But, we play such a broad spectrum of styles we can be hard to describe. We wanted to release something that showcased the variety of musicality we have as a band.
Judge Murphy: It came about as finally having the perfect mix of artists to play the material and all systems were go. The official CD release show was December 27, 2008 at the Mystic Theatre.
JamBase: Was this release produced independently?
Lauren: Yes, this body of work is entirely self-produced and self-backed - we're literally a ma-and-pa business. Our friend, photographer Bob Minkin created the cover art and collaborated in the design process. It's available online, by mail [PO Box 221 San Anselmo, CA 94979] and soon at iTunes.
Is the CD reflective of your live performances, or would you consider it more of a studio craftwork?
Judge: Since I'm not a cut and paste recording artist, the idea of the session was to set up the band and play live. It's a technique I've always used when recording. I always told my bands that if you can't record the song in a take, it's a lie.
Lauren: Because we wanted to capture the true live Lansdale Station vibe, we booked Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco for one continuous twelve-hour session. During which time we tried to lay down as many quality tracks as possible - kind of a marathon of music. We had already woodshedded the selected songs during live shows and rehearsals, and knew exactly what our mission as a group was. We ended up with six solid songs, to which we later added number seven.
The sonic quality of the recording is very notable, especially the mix. To what do you attribute the high quality of the audio?
 Lansdale Station by Bob Minkin |
Lauren: We had a concise vision, some fabulous engineers and great gear. Enrique Gonzalez Muller [Metallica, Dave Matthews, Taj Mahal, Train] engineered my second solo record and he was the obvious choice to get the project going at Hyde Street.
Judge: It's kinda funny. I asked the band to show up at the studio promptly at 11 a.m., though everyone had a late gig the night before. Fortunately, the drummer actually showed early. Enrique was so into getting a good drum mix, it took four hours to get the drums dialed in, and my poor tired musicians stood around giving me stink-eye for three of the four hours. They later thanked Enrique; because GOD did those drums come off good in the recording. Dana Miller is a very creative drummer and a solid member of the team.
The guitar amps were set in the hall outside the studio, except for the slide. The slide guitarist, Jimmy Cucuzella, did kind of an elaborate grouping of ancient tube amps underneath a bunch of blankets because he didn't trust anyone with his sound. It actually came off great. The bass was run D.I. [a recording method that results in a direct, clean signal path]. Lauren and I were both in separate isolation booths.
Lauren: Though we are acoustically isolated, Judge and I do have to see each other when recording or singing live. He can be quite spontaneous, which keeps me on my toes.
Judge: By early afternoon we were ready to go. We recorded until midnight.
Lauren: The engineers were inspired and worked another couple hours to get a fine first mix. It was pretty much ready.
Judge: A few months went by and Lauren and I were itching to further mix and master what we had. While most of the existing vocals were pretty good, the long hours we put in at Hyde Street took their toll on a couple of vocal parts.
Lauren: Singing for eight hours straight is pretty intense.
Judge: I phoned up Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati. My friend Mooka Rennick turned us on to his engineer, Timin Murray [Rob Wasserman, Steel Train] and said Murray would be the perfect guy for our kind of music. Man, was he right! We brought the rough mix to Cotati to do a few vocals and a little bit of guitar clean up. Also, both studios had Nieve boards [built by Rupert Nieve in London in the late 1960s]. These boards were originally used by The Who and The Stones. They helped provide the retro-contemporary urban sound we were looking for.
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