On Thursday nights, in the no-longer-dormant Rosemary District, there’s quite the ruckus being caused by a glamour girl, a guitar, and a revamped café connecting each of Sarasota’s indie-musical dots. The person to blame: Equines’ front woman Erin Murphy, who has been steamrolling hipster kids and adults alike with alt-rock mayhem throughout central Florida with a string of pub gigs the last few months. Now, tackling the world in a whisper, Murphy is leading weekly open-mic performances at Sarasota’s new artist haven—Felice’s Café.
In April, Murphy kept it simple. Seated before the local green-minded, granola-munching set, she matched her vibrato-full vocals with an acoustic guitar. But don’t jump to conclusions—there’s an alluring maturity to her lyrics: a sense of holding on to unbridled youth due to red flags that come with aging, i.e. failed relationships and heartache.
On “Alice,” the tormented Murphy sang, “I’ve lived 49,000 lives, but they still say I’m young.” Upon first listen, one can’t help but ask what inspired these tragic, wondrous tales. Her alt-country-tinged pain is unmistakably solemn, yet optimistic enough to warrant fans to shake her abuser’s hand. Murphy isn’t merely singing—she’s stringing together the good and bad parts of her past.
Such dichotomy is the main attraction of Murphy’s performance. In one moment, she’ll appear relentlessly cheery, performing “Baby Teeth” where she sings, “When I was young, I sang as loud as I could for the neighbor.”
Then without hesitation, her voice will change, swan-diving into a croak with “when you were younger, you never remembered my birthday.” Child neglect has never been marketed so well, and overall, a Murphy-led acoustic set is heart-wrenching fun on the ears, particularly when her acoustic guitar licks are accompanied by dreadlocked audience members bearing bongos.
Still, nothing beats the tropical punch of a full-fledged Equines show. But for those looking for the subtleties under the static fuzz—the lightening behind the lyrics—pay a Thursday visit to this gifted “girl before her time” and her guitar. And say hello to the owner, Felice, who’s serving up a great musical menu along with the best veggie burger in Sarasota.
Felice’s Café is at 500 Central Ave. in Sarasota. For more information on The Equines, visit MySpace.com/TheEquines.
