BIO

Sean Murphy is a multidisciplinary artist living in Memphis, Tennessee.  He is a musician, ethnomusicologist, instrument maker, sound healer, teaching artist, nature lover, listener, explorer… 

Born in Scooba, Mississippi and raised in Memphis, he attended the University of Memphis earning a Bachelor's Degree in Music History with an emphasis on Ethnomusicology.  He was trained to play western classical and jazz tuba; but his fascination with world cultures and music has led him to play and make innumerable instruments. 

Early in his career, he began performing as a solo improvisation musician accompanying dance and yoga which eventually led him to the practice of sound healing.  Sean and his wife, Anne J. Froning, have led workshops in restorative yoga & meditative movement with music throughout the United States. 

As a performing and recording musician, Sean has delved into nearly every genre into which music has ever been categorized!  From classical to hip hop, world to ambient, jazz to hard rock, new age to jazz, he is equally at home.  He is the leader of the Mighty Souls Brass Band as well as regularly playing as a sideman with many jazz groups while also regularly performing improvised music for dance, healing, and yoga.  He also has many recording credits to his name as a soloist, bandleader, and sideman.  He has also been fortunate enough to perform with many world-renowned musicians and bands including Dr. John, Paul Winter, William Eaton, the Meters, Galactic, Clyde Stubblefield, Rufus Thomas, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, & Mike Tamburo to name a few.

He and Anne co-own Being:Art LLC, a fusion arts company specializing in music, dance, visual art, instrument making, and site-specific design. The company builds musical instruments for outdoor classrooms; and conducts workshops, residencies, and performances throughout the United States.  Their largest public installation can be found in the courtyard of Overton Square in Memphis.  OS Tower Chimes is one of the ten largest sets of wind chimes in the world.

Sean currently splits his time between performing and recording as a solo artist, presenting healing arts experiences with yoga/dance and live music (often in collaboration with Anne), leading the Mighty Souls Brass Band, building functional art in the form of musical instruments, and spending as much time with his granddaughters as possible!

 

Upcoming Events

Previous events

DGY Yoga Festival

DGY Yoga Festival

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Chimes square @ Overton square , 2091 Madison Ave, Memphis

Delta Groove Yoga is turning 11 this April!! We have sooooo much to celebrate, and we really hope you will join us!

There will be lots of excellent yoga, with incredible live music because that's how we groove; crystals and high vibe goodies for purchase; free Thai massage; and a generally phenomenal time well spent cultivating community, vitality, strength, flexibility, focus, relaxation, optimism, and the circulation of love.

10am: Slow Flow Yoga + Live Music w/ Shelby Luigs & Master Mutli-instrumentalist Sean Murphy

12pm: Kundalini Yoga + Live Music w/ Olivia & guitar virtuoso Joni Rokotnitz

2pm: Yin Yoga + Live Cello with Valentine Leonard and Soundscape artist Tamar Love

3:30pm: Yoga Nidra + Sound Bath with Eric Swartz & Sound healing sprite Jatziry Greenfield

Festival Day Pass: $22 until April 4 / After April 4: $33 Festival Class drop-in: $11

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Sound Meditation with Sean Murphy

Sound Meditation with Sean Murphy

The Inner Warrior , 600 Distillery Commons Suite 250, Louisville

Immerse yourself in a deep vibrational soundscape as Sean “1Breath” Murphy weaves a sonic tapestry of didjeridus, world flutes, kalimbas, drums, gongs, bells, bowls, and more. Listeners have described Sean’s improvisations as “sound acupuncture” and “a cell altering shamanic journey”. Treat yourself to the gift of listening.

$37 self-investment

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Contact

Available for Private & Group Sound Healing Sessions, Peformances, Workshops, etc.  For more information please use the contact form or email at smbeingart@gmail.com

Listen and Purchase Music by Sean "1Breath" Murphy

Imbolc Ice

Sean Murphy

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Recorded at home during an ice storm during the Imbolc holiday on 1 February 2023.

For nearly a quarter century, I've been the primary musician in a weekly dance & music improv jam in Memphis, TN. A core group of dancers and I gather each week in a local dance studio and explore the place where music and dance intersect. Oftentimes we're
Recorded at home during an ice storm during the Imbolc holiday on 1 February 2023.

For nearly a quarter century, I've been the primary musician in a weekly dance & music improv jam in Memphis, TN. A core group of dancers and I gather each week in a local dance studio and explore the place where music and dance intersect. Oftentimes we're joined by other dancers, musicians, and artists of all types.

On this particular evening, an unexpected ice storm hit Memphis so we cancelled our regular event and held a more intimate session in our home. The dancers were my wife, Anne J. Froning, and one of the longtime movers, Nat Newberger.

I was the only musician for the evening and was currently exploring the sounds of a recently acquired baby grand piano and an iPad based electronics setup. What we captured that night was completely unexpected, challenging, and quite beautiful!

The artwork for the cover is a capture and modification of a piece of interactive art by one of my favorite artists (and Anne's cousin) Letitia Quesenberry. See more of her work at letitiaquesenberry.com and on Instagram at @lettyq_
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    Imbolc Ice 19:08
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    Amaterasu Stirs 6:53
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Awakening

Sean Murphy

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The last few weeks have been filled with so much uncertainty but it has certainly offered much time for reflection and experimentation. "Awakening" is my second ambient creation during this time.

The track started as a series of experiments using the shakuhachi as the sounding instrument and the Strymon Timeline as a delay filter. I created a
The last few weeks have been filled with so much uncertainty but it has certainly offered much time for reflection and experimentation. "Awakening" is my second ambient creation during this time.

The track started as a series of experiments using the shakuhachi as the sounding instrument and the Strymon Timeline as a delay filter. I created a series of sounds over the course of an hour and then spent the next couple of weeks mixing and manipulating the sounds to create this ethereal soundscape. After much listening I started to get this vision of something dormant awakening - much the way many of us have felt as we've had time to reflect and much the way we've seen the earth grab this moment of time and flourish into the most beautiful spring I've experienced in my life! That feeling of awakening led me to wanting to add a heartbeat to this recording. Well, it so happens that I have a nice collection of recorded heartbeats and I was able to take one of those and put it through a series of filters and reverbs and add it to the track.

Close listening is recommended. I hope the music helps to awaken something in you!
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Rebirth into Being

Sean Murphy

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This EP is taken from a live performance at a "Sweet Soul Restorative" Yoga Workshop led by Anne J. Froning and Sean Murphy of Being:Art. The intention of the workshop and this music is to encourage the participant-listener to embody and rediscover the inner child.

The music is a combination of live performance, live looping, sampling, and
This EP is taken from a live performance at a "Sweet Soul Restorative" Yoga Workshop led by Anne J. Froning and Sean Murphy of Being:Art. The intention of the workshop and this music is to encourage the participant-listener to embody and rediscover the inner child.

The music is a combination of live performance, live looping, sampling, and effects processing.

Instruments:
Shakuhachi
Ocean Drum
Alto Kalimba
Bansuri
Tibetan Bells
Tuba
Vocals

Electronics:
Bose T1 Mixer
EHX Micro POG
Bose OC-3
Strymon Timeline
EHX 16 Second Digital Delay Reissue
EHX 2880
Elektron Digitakt.

Samples:
"Seafloor" by Calvin Corner, New Zealand
"Hoot Owl" by ReMix Memphis Project, Memphis, TN
"Bass Drum 808" by Samples from Mars
"Closed Hat 808" by Samples from Mars
"Coyote Bark & Howl" by Sean Murphy, Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, MO
"Elephant Seals & Seagulls" by Sean Murphy, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
"3rd Granddaughter Sounds" by Sean Murphy, Memphis, TN
"Open Hat" by Sean Murphy, Memphis, TN
"Waves" by Sean Murphy, Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
"Normal Heart" by Source Unknown
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    Rebirth into Being 23:12
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Sketches of Crosstown

Sean Murphy

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recorded inside the abandoned 1.5 million square feet Sears Crosstown building in Memphis TN from August 2011 to June 2012

I have long been fascinated with the way Space and Sound can influence one another. In particular, the way a location (be it a cave, a forest, or a building) quite literally shapes the sounds that are created in their
recorded inside the abandoned 1.5 million square feet Sears Crosstown building in Memphis TN from August 2011 to June 2012

I have long been fascinated with the way Space and Sound can influence one another. In particular, the way a location (be it a cave, a forest, or a building) quite literally shapes the sounds that are created in their vicinity. I have spent years exploring sounds within natural environments as is documented on my 2011 album Wisp. But what I was really looking for now was a way to explore sounds within the context of architecture. Many artists have explored this territory, and there are some great albums available that truly express architecture through music. In my opinion, three of the finest examples of this expression are Paul Horn’s Inside (Taj Mahal), Eugene Friesen’s Sono Miho, and Michel Godard’s Castel del Monte. In each of these albums the artist had the opportunity to experiment and collaborate with a particular building through the medium of music.

These thoughts were in the back of my mind when I first entered the Sears Crosstown building in 2011. At the time I was mostly excited to finally enter this mythical building of my hometown. Having grown up in Memphis, TN, the Crosstown building was an icon that I watched (albeit not consciously) slowly deteriorate from a vibrant distribution hub of the region into a forgotten and overlooked ghostly shell. Within minutes of entering the building, I realized that I had found not only a haunting, stark space, but also one that was crying out for musical expression. While inside the building, I put a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) to my lips and gently blew the first note of many that I would play within this wonderful building. As I stopped playing, I listened to the building play the note back to me for a full seven seconds. In those seven seconds, I knew that I had found a building that I would experiment and collaborate with through the medium of music...
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    Hope 3:02
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    Overtone Seers 4:26
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    Pulse 3:59
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    Ruins Rebirth 2:48
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    Fulfillment Cave 6:02
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    Crosstown Soul 5:37
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    Bones 3:37
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    Urban Ocean 5:35
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    Tower Red 4:00
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    Hope (reprise) 1:41
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Breath of Invocation

Sean "1Breath" Murphy

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Produced by Sean Murphy & Anne Froning Wike

This album was a collaborative project between Sean and Erik T. Sowder, Ph.D., BCB. It uses sound massage through the soulful healing sounds of tuba, didjeridu, shakuhachi, bansuri, Tibetan bowls, and piano created as an aid to biofeedback based, stress-relieving breathing techniques.
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    A Prayer 1:56
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    Root - 7.5 Breaths per Minute - F 10:16
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    Sacral - 7 Breaths per Minute - C 10:05
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    Solar Plexus - 6.5 Breaths per Minute - G 10:13
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    Heart - 6 Breaths per Minute - D 10:13
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    Throat - 5.5 Breaths per Minute - A 10:10
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    Third Eye - 5 Breaths per Minute - E 10:03
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    Crown - 8 Breaths per Minute - B 9:58
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    A Blessing 5:51
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