Tracy Murphie (Vocals, Diva, Pocket Rocket & Prolific Drinker Of Fine Ales)
"There had been abuse in my family...but it was mostly musical in nature..."
For some bizarre and inexplicable reason, the Venezuelan Government, proud guardians of a very diversified country with high mountain ranges covered in snow, tropical beaches lined with palm trees, extensive plains and Amazon jungles, beautiful marine national parks and the world's highest waterfall, made an amazing decision in the late sixties. Unbeknown to its 24 million inhabitants, the government of the day had struck a secret deal with the Indians of the Amazonian basin to send forth "sleepers" to every corner of the earth with the intention of "Redefining musical diversity worldwide". Its was a simple plan, and if successful would bring Venezuelan fulia and gaita rhythms of the coastal regions to the worlds attention. But sixties Venezuela was not entirely ready for such audacious self-promotion and it was to go horribly wrong.
The staff of the Venezuelan Department of Interior Culture and Pot Plants had little concept of the
 world beyond Caracas, so it was no surprise that they mistook Armenia for America to be the launch place for the Minister to announce the project. It was however somewhat surprising that the announcement was going to be made in The Wheat House, poorly timed with the annual conference of the Armenian Licentious Victuallers Association. The matter was further compounded by the Ministers opening remarks "I plead with you, great peoples of the world to let us send you an envoy to all of your great establishments" or rather "Abogo por con, usted que la gran gente del mundo nos deja enviarle a un enviado a todos sus grandes establecimientos"And thus started Tracy's journey from Caracas to the back street bars of the UK via a representative from Shepherds Neame Brewery. For several years Tracy had harboured the notion of a career in the music industry. Indeed Music was Tracy's first language. Her earliest memories of growing up in Caracas are full of song and dancing feet. "Music is part of every celebration and social occasion," she says. Of course there was hardship and abuse in my family but...it was mostly of a musical nature". By the time she was six Tracy could sing dozens of aguinaldos (holiday songs) and at the age of nine had her first and only lesson on the cuatro, which resulted in a terrifying death for the family cat.
Truth-seeker, creative soul, cultural fugitive and romantic rebel, Tracy fled Caracas in search of solace and fertile ground in the northwest of Cheam. She found herself digging below the surface of a landscape littered with Burger King, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, to uncover her country's hidden treasures. A fateful meeting with master musician, arranger, composer and terminal liar, Aquiles Báez in a friend's toilet made everything click. "Aquiles lives with one foot in Venezuela and one foot in the UK. We were instantly committed to working with the best, and we did. We just had to find them, learn to play some instruments, and somehow get out of the toilet alive" she later mused.
 Plumbing the depths of passion and scaling the heights of joy, vocalist Tracy formed her first virtuoso ensemble, "Siete pintas de amargo y un paquete de patatas a la inglesa" (Seven dots of bitter and a package of potatoes to the English). The artist's velvet voice and impassioned interpretations breathed new life into the music of her homeland. She branched out musically-her first three albums venture into Brazilian, Latin Jazz and Nueva Canción and even Croydon Rap. Contemplating new directions for a fourth CD, Tracy felt her strong Venezuelan roots pulling her homeward, however The Bishops Finger Ale at The Firkin and Forgetum undoubtedly had the edge and thus her real musical destiny was born. The fourth album "El Hombre De Hoochie Coochie, La Mujer De Tonk Del Honky Y La Otra Gran Música Venezolana." (The Man De Hoochie Coochie, The Woman De Tonk Of The Honky And The Other Great Venezuelan Music -(Ducca Music) was a huge success and she has never looked back."I wanted to pay homage to our composers, the beloved Simón Diaz and the lesser known such as Maria Luisa Escobar" says Tracy, "Its just after fifteen pints of Old Growler they sound like pants, so I stuck in some T-Bone Walker, Bo Diddley and a bit of an Old Blue Moses original song I had found on a CD in a garage forecourt in Bromley".
It was that lost CD that did indeed bring her to join Old Blue Moses. Having heard the story of the Venezuelan musical sleepers and desperately in need of a free holiday they scoured the sumptuous landscape of Venezuelan music, only to find a gutsy, soulful blues singer downing her ninth pint of Black Sheep.
Tracy's journey to Old Blue is rich with nature, culture and tradition, yet bursts with ingenuity and creativity. It's amazing what the girl will do to get to the pub...
Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Tracy "Diva" Murphie. Back To The Biog Page
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