Root Down in the Shadow

by guest contributer Emily Southerton If you had been walking down the streets of a Philadelphia fall on the evening of September 15 th , as the sun set on West Philly’s painted gables, you might have stopped momentarily at the doorstep of Nomad Studios. Outside, the autumn air is crisp and dropping like an apple from a tree, but looking through the glass, you’d have seen a living room scattered with warm folks, drinks in hand and smiling, eyes fixed on a September Sofar Sounds show. Murchant opened the evening. A Pennsylvania girl relocating to Joshua Tree, CA, Murchant sang a solo set, and backed herself with guitar and ukulele. Her voice is rich, and in “Credit Card,” rises quickly with complex melodies, supported by swells but gentle enough to warble with an enchanting vibrato. Eyes closed, bones and feathers tied around her neck, she taps her boot and smiles, which elicits a similar response from her audience. Her set was sweet well received, but it left me curious abou...