The three Murphy brothers formed the band Murphy's Lore in 1991, enlisting their cousin and a school friend to perform their own material around the South West WA region. When Courtney was still just 13. The band won the 1993 School Music Awards.
In 1995, the group still only aged 14-18 began work on their first album 'People In Grass Houses', 12 original tracks written over the course of 2-3 years. The album was well received locally and scored some minor airplay internationally. On the verge of re-pressing the album after promising first run sales, Courtney entered Channel Ten’s
‘Australian Idol’ in mid-2004, quickly becoming one of the most recognizable faces and voices in Australia almost overnight. His talent garnered him praise not only from the viewing public who embraced his
soulful performances and quick wit, but from industry leaders, becoming one of the hardest working Idol’s following the competition.
MURPHY’S LORE
The gamut of the material that Murphy Lore’s play ranges from some very excellent original material (mostly written by Chris Murphy and Courtney Murphy individually or in collaboration) through to top quality covers of the world’s most popular music icons such as: The Eagles, The Beatles, C.C.R., Rolling Stones, Doobie Bros, Dragon, Cold Chisel, David Bowie, Ben Folds Five, Crowded House, Green Day, Powderfinger , U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, Hunters & Collectors
The band features Courtney ( Australian Idol 2004) keyboards and vocals, along with brother Kieran on drums and vocals, the group also features the talents of Shaun Street bass guitar, Jason Smith guitar, and
Clayton Bolger guitar and vocals. Chris Murphy, who was on Australian Idol 2006 can also perform with the band.
Murphy’s Lore has three independently released albums of its own to date with “People In Grass Houses”, “Best Laid Plans” and most recently “ Universe Conspires” and also contributed to Chris Murphy’s self titled 2007 release.
