Copyright © 2002 Tim Miejan

Another Way, by Heather Murphy (Heather Murphy Music, 2002)

From the opening strums of her acoustic guitar, Heather Murphy sets a tone of intention and a powerful resolve to be true to herself.

“...And I will stand up and embrace my own true power / To reveal my heart, and call you here to me,” she sings in “Calling you Home,” a delightful song of hope and self-awareness that opens her solid debut recording.

A Minnesota transplant from the West Coast, Murphy learned her craft by playing and singing songs by Cat Stevens, John Denver, Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell, among others. Further inspired by Michelle Shocked, Dar Williams and Ani Di Franco, she continued to grow musically, buoyed no doubt by the growing success of singer-songwriters in the past decade.

And then she hit the wall. In 1994, Murphy vowed to not pick up her guitar again until she had written her own songs. The rest is history

The 14-song solo recording, an independent release that will lead to major label support soon, is clearly her own making, yet it is clear she has learned her lessons well. Reflecting the masterful phrasing of Emily Sailers and Amy Ray [Indigo Girls] on such songs as “Rhyme and Reason,” Murphy asks some crucial questions:

“Is this the time, for the rivers and mountains to teach what they know? / For spirits and fairies, to reap what they sow? / The questions we're asking, the answers we'll find / if we take what we're given, and follow the signs.”

Murphy’s voice sounds wise beyond her years, and it is that voice that continues to ask us why we choose to suffer, how we can help the planet heal and if we can change our chaotic world. The songs on Another Way do not leave us guessing. Murphy continues to march forward, song after song, putting one foot in front of the next, down the path of healing.

  -- by Tim Miejan