Nicole Knox Murphy; The Pizza Man; Manchester, NH
Nicole Knox Murphy came into Manchester, New Hampshire’s The Pizza Man last Friday night to entertain with her mix of country, pop, and rock music. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Murphy’s voice and song selection went over well with the receptive pizza chowing music fans.
Murphy’s adaptation of The Monkee’s “Day Dream Believer” captured the floating, breezy quality of the original while infusing it with her combination of slight rasp, candy sweet vocal timbre. This singer, of course, sounded as charming on “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You,” another pop dandy in her repertoire.
Murphy also knows how to have fun. Her delivery of the Jim Croce singalong “Leroy Brown” lead the crowd through the fun motion of this familiar piece. She also had fun strumming its well known acoustic guitar chords as she put emphasis in the right places in the quirky lyrical twists.
Murphy smoothly made her way through the America song “Magic” before bringing her audience back to yesteryear with The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” and its affectionate lyrics. Switching things up a bit, Murphy put the needed oomph into Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” hitting all the right places in the song by rising up with the song’s energy and landing the passion of the piece in the spaces in between.
Murphy’s emphatic delivery of “Don’t Stop” reminded of the recently departed Christine McVie, a little McVie in the slight rasp and in the driving acoustic guitar chords progression. Changing paths once more, Murphy swung into the Everly Brothers “Bye Bye Love,” making her way through its pop refrains and sorrowful lyrics, never letting us forget this singalong has a bit of darkness with its “hello emptiness.”
Murphy, using an easy going strum, captured the mellow vibe of the old King Harvest Song “Dancing In The Moonlight,” her sweet rasp forming a svelte timbre for this lively jive. Turning more serious, Murphy, adopting a more piano bar vibe, performed Nora Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” with a tender aim.
Nicole Knox Murphy; The Pizza Man; Manchester, NH
By this point in the three hour set, The Pizza Man crowd was really into Nicole Knox Murphy, her voice, her guitar strumming, her song selection. When she sang John Denver’s “Country Roads,” she had the audience in the palm of her gentle hand, maintaining the vibe of the song and the vibe of the room as she sang its lofty melodic vocal line.
If all of the above was not enough. Murphy tackled another dynamic, familiar song, Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” asserting her way though the 70s smash it and its assertive chorus with her pretty voiced take. Murphy next captured the haunting beauty of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” kept in the shadow of her sublime delivery.
Murphy made Eddie Rabbit’s “I Love A Rainy Night” her own with her snappy vocal and snappy acoustic guitar strum. She kept it action packed with all of the snap, crackle, and pop of the original while making it sweet for a new audience. It can be surprising how well Murphy can jump right into another genre or another time period. After the 1980s Rabbit hit, she slid seamlessly into the Tommy James infatuation song “I Think We’re Alone Now,” using her soft as a cloud vocal to conjure the young crush urgency.
Murphy cruised through Linda Ronstadt’s oldies feel on “It’s So Easy,” Van Morrison’ trippy, hippy lyrics to “Brown Eyed Girl,” and Al Green’s soulful “Ride Sally Ride.” Murphy was especially soulful singing The Eagles “Take It To The Limit” and bringing its journeying vibe.
Nicole Knox Murphy; The Pizza Man, Manchester, NH
Pulling out a couple of her original songs brought an interesting dimension to Murphy. Her ode to her home state “My 603” from her album “Music Is In My Heart” showcased how well she can use her chirpy vocal to bridge a country vibe to a folksy observational lyric. Murphy expressed serious emotive content to “Love While You Still Can,” a friendly cautionary tale and original from her Full Circle album.
Murphy got her 80s on with Quarterflash’s “Harden My Heart,” her tender strum perfectly matching her pretty, heartfelt delivery. The singer whipped up more fun in the room with the festive “Sweet Caroline” and the oldies rocker “When Will I Be Loved.” Murphy nailed the soft pace and graceful tenderness of “On Top Of The World” with her bouncy application.
Gliding through this pop mode, Murphy sung Olivia Newton John’s “Let Me Be There,” The Mama And The Papa’s “California Dreamin,” and Seals and Croft’s “Summer Breeze” with attention to each’s melodic underpinnings. She also injected a playful strum into Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
After playing her three hour set without taking a break, Murphy ended the night with “Chicken Fried.” She drawled the heck out of this fun Zac Brown piece with a country aplomb.
Murphy has certainly found a good home at The Pizza Man. She had her audience in the palm of her hand as her affectionate delivery and amicable manner suited the family friendly pizza parlor.
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