The Passerines are a four-piece Warwickshire-based country/Americana band consisting of
Becky Murphy on vocals and rhythm guitar,
Stuart Lord on drums and harmonies.
Grahame Scott on bass
Si Crane on lead guitar and banjo.
One of the upsides of working for a music magazine is that you get to hear a lot of music; even my teenagers probably don’t hear as much new music as their mum! It has to be said that there is a lot of noise out there and a lot of it flies past me, but sometimes a piece comes and grabs me and I will take it forward for Mark or Benny to have a look at. In this case the song was “Shot that fucker dead” by a Warwickshire-based outfit called The Passerines. It’s a damn fine song, and having given it a listen, I headed off to play the album and sent it over to the boys before heading off to do a feature. This is the result! I am very pleased to be joined by vocalist and principal songwriter Becky Murphy, and it is a great chance to find out about the band and encourage all you country/Americana fans out there to have a listen. You honestly won’t regret it.
Here is the interview for your reading pleasure, and I will include a YouTube video at the end if you haven’t heard them before reading this.
Let’s begin by asking who The Passerines are. for those just passing by here, what should they know about you all?
Becky: The Passerines are me on vocals and rhythm guitar, Stu on drums and harmonies, Si on lead guitar and Grahame on Bass. Grahame, Si and I go way back… Grahame and I have been playing in various bands on and off for about 15 years, and Si and I have known each other about that long too. Stu played in a band with a friend of mine and we had met but didn’t really know each other until our mutual friend suggested Stu put some drums to one of my original songs and during that jam session we discovered a mutual love of country music. We decided there, on the spot, that we had to start a country band. That was 5 years ago this year, and really, we should be much more active on the band front by now… Unfortunately, we are all RUBBISH at social media, and life, work, and families mean we have lots of other commitments too. Right now we are playing for the fun of it, for the love of making our own music, and if anyone listens and enjoys it, then that’s a huge bonus!
We all have day jobs, with Grahame and Si being self-employed. Stu works in data management and has a passion project, Neurobeat, which aims to bring together neuroscience research and drumming to help people improve their physical, cognitive and mental health. I am a palliative care nurse in the NHS and only work nights. We actually have a new song we recorded in January that was inspired by my work, about the acceptance of death. It sounds really bleak but it’s an upbeat and hopeful song—like a love letter to those left behind.
In country music there is always a rich storytelling tradition, Dolly Parton’s Appalachian songs, for example. Your music has an interesting mix of folk traditions with country. Tell us about “Thunder and Lightning” to begin with; that is a song with some punch.
Becky: That’s super kind of you to say! I’m really glad you picked up on the mix of folk and country. We initially labelled ourselves as country but recently adopted Alt-Country as we realized our style is very…mixed! “Thunder and Lightning” was written on a rainy day at my parents house. I just started thinking about how exciting a relationship is when you first start seeing each other, how every touch feels electric and makes you tingle all over. Then, of course, the song had to pack a punch to emphasize the power of that feeling. A strong bass line and the drums at the start, thumping like an excited heartbeat, were essential to making the song work.
It definitely does! And moving swiftly to the song that got me hooked, “Shot That Fucker Dead”—great” title. I have two names in mind I’d happily apply to that lol. “Mama, Just Killed a Man, put my gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead,” sang Freddie in that most famous of songs. I guess the emotion to kill when we are massively pissed off is there in any of us. How did you set about channeling that musically in “Shot That Fucker Dead”?
Becky: I think Freddie put it much more eloquently than I ever could! But I wanted it to feel raw and angry. It’s a song for anyone out there who has had an abusive partner or experienced domestic abuse. It can be so hard to get help and so hard to open up and tell people what’s going on. I tried to channel the thought of taking things into your own hands and getting the ultimate revenge, and how satisfying that would be. Si wasn’t with us when we recorded the EP, so we decided to re-record a couple of songs, including “Shot That Fucker Dead,” for the album. I think the album version of this song is by far the better of the two, but it really comes into its own when we play it live.
You had an EP that came out in 2022, I think, “Three, Five, Seven.” Do you see the 2024 album as an extension of the sound on the EP or as finding new ground to stand on?
Becky: I absolutely think of the album as an extension of the EP. The EP has a darker quality to it; the songs are quite angry and full of frustration, apart from “Sweet Sweet Something,” which is the obligatory love song! There is a bit of darkness on the album too, especially with songs like “Pray For Me,” which is about an affair with a preacher, and “Lost and Scared,” which is a song for anyone who carries trauma. But I like to think that we strike a good balance, and I hope people can feel the shift between the EP and album, as our sound changed when Si joined us, and I feel that is reflected in the album. The three-piece was good, but Si’s guitar playing was the missing ingredient and our sound is so much bigger and better now.
“What’s a Girl to Do” I also liked, and it follows a pattern of placing quite a melancholic theme (unrequited love in this case) with an upbeat instrumental. Obviously intentional and something that occurs in the album. Would you say that is a feature of your songwriting?
Becky: I love this question! Yes, it’s absolutely intentional; I love the juxtaposition of it. A bit like the new song about death I mentioned earlier, placing a sad subject over an upbeat sound can work really well and is something people don’t expect. I think everyone has experienced unrequited love at some point, so why not stick a happy tune over the top and give everyone something to bop along to in our shared experience? Its certainly a tool I like using, but I have to be careful not to overuse it
On the subject of songwriting, how does that work in the band? Does one person come in with a fully worked-out demo and the others run with it, or is it more a collaborative process in the studio where ideas change a lot?
Becky: 80% of the time I write the bare bones of a song. I will come to the guys with chords, lyrics and a melody to sing. Then they each write their own bit that they will play, and we mess around with the structure a bit if needed. I would say it’s a team effort overall, though, as the songs wouldn’t be what they are without the guy’s input. That’s the most exciting part of the process: arriving at practice with the start of a new song and by the end, it’s sounding like the real deal! Sometimes Si will come to me with a riff (one example of this is “Lost and Scared”) and I will then write some lyrics, or he will come to me with a chord progression and maybe the first couple of lines (our newly recorded song about death is an example of this) and we will build the song together. We don’t write in the studio; we use a hut at the bottom of my parents garden, which has a little log burner and comfy seats. We like to be prepared when we get in the studio and have the basics down, and then we can add extras while we are there if we have time.
If a reader was passing by and has just decided to check out your music and stream a song, which of your songs would you tell them to stream and listen to? What would be the recommended go-to track, and why?
Becky: “Shot That Fucker Dead” (album version) every time! It’s short, punchy and one of my favorites lyrically. It’s got attitude and it’s catchy. It’s also our absolute favorite to play live and always goes down a storm!
Are there any plans for 2025 that you can share with us? Festivals? Live shows, single releases, videos, etc.
Becky: We have been taking a break since we went to the studio in January due to illness. Hopefully we will be back and fighting fit for the summer! We have a couple of local festivals to ease us back into it, one of them being a fantastic charity festival, Hamplified (19th July), which raises money for the Matt Hampson foundation. Music-wise, we have two new songs to release! One is the aforementioned song about death, and the other is a catchy, upbeat summer song and our ode to pop country. I’m hoping to do a music video for this, so keep your eyes peeled! We recorded these at the amazing Otterhead studios back in January and worked with Ellis Powell Bevan as sound tech and Anthony Chapman as producer. These guys really know their stuff and we can’t wait to release them and hear what people think!
Fun finishing question – what was the last album you listened to from beginning to end, and did you enjoy it?
Becky: The last album I listened to was “Rhumba Country” by Pokey LaFarge. I’ve had it on repeat for about a week and I’m mildly obsessed with it. I love how Pokey writes an album with so many different sounds and styles on it, but you can always tell it’s him. His distinct voice carries you from country to soul to almost funk in some places. If I had to pick a specific favorite song from the album, it would be So Long Chicago.
And that finishes this great chat with the talented Becky Murphy. And I hope you liked the feature and review, dear reader! If you did, please check out the other pages of the magazine; we have many great features, merchandise, and editorials, and even poetry! We work hard for you, and if you want to show some appreciation and support what we do, then do use the Support Us link below and buy us a coffee.
You can stream music from The Passerines here
By Lorraine Foley
Shot that fucker dead! What a song!The album is great too