NORMAN, Okla. – For over 20 years, Christophe Murdock has remained the local music scene’s elusive man in black. From his beginning in the 90s punk and goth scenes, to his recent rebirth as an outlaw country artist, along with plenty of experimentation in between, he may not have hit the mainstream like many of his contemporaries, but that’s okay—he’s content to just keep lurking in the background as a cult figure.
“I don’t have a huge following or anything like that, but I have people who get what I do,” Murdock said.
“I don’t write bad songs and I’m not gonna stop. I’ve wanted to quit a few different times, when life got to be too much, but I always keep coming back to it. It’s something that’s in my blood. I’m a songwriter, it’s what I do. It’ll drive me crazy if I don’t.”
When Murdock says that songwriting is in his blood, he’s actually being quite literal. The famed country music songwriter Merle Kilgore—co-author of the immortal Johnny Cash tune “Ring of Fire”—was a close relative of his. Since Kilgore’s death in 2005. Murdock has drawn upon Kilgore’s long lineage of classic music as inspiration for his own introspective works, learning to accept every aspect of his talent.
“When I was younger, I felt that I had to keep everything separate,” Murdock said. “My rock music and my dark imagery as one thing, and my folk and country music and imagery about Jesus and God was another thing that was completely separate. Over the years, that’s something that has kind of blended together and become its own big, beautiful thing.”
His passion for music of all kinds has even led him to become a member of the local hip-hop group the SouthSide KrazyKidz, who are about to release their latest project,The Money Shot LP. Murdock said that while at first it was a little difficult for him to capture the songwriting rhythms of rap at first, through hours of practice trying to hone this new sound, he was eventually able to catch on and is proud of his work with the KrazyKidz.
But, as fans wait for that release, Murdock will be playing one of his “red dirt macabre” acoustic sets at 8 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Red Brick Bar, 311 E. Main St., supporting the thoroughly raucous double-bill of punk-country band the Punknecks and thrashgrassers JV’s Fillin’ Station. Murdock said that the crowds for these bands keep getting “bigger and better” and that folks can expect a “helluva good time.”
And while Murdock has never been one for self-promotion, he said that many of his own albums are finally going back into print and will finally be available for sale again at his upcoming shows.
“I’ve never been much in taking big about myself,” Murdock said. “I’m not the best performer, I’m not the best singer, but, you know, I do write a damn good song. Pick up any of my albums, any of my EPs, it shows in the songwriting craft. The music speaks for itself.”
