When Mikel A. Murphy first touches the keys on a baby grand, just sit back in your chair and listen very closely for a moment. And you’ll realize something. You’ll realize the sounds you’re hearing are not only coming from the instrument he is playing, but from somewhere deep inside his soul. He draws each song up with the joy of a newly-found treasure and then excitedly wants to share with those around him what he has discovered—as if for the very first time. To him, music is the language of the spirit, and he communicates it freely.

      Before long, you will further realize that there is an entire life behind each song he performs. And being a master teller of tales, he can easily bring a tear to your eye or put a smile on your face.

      Although Mikel can play any song in any style, the era closest to his soul is the Big Band Era (1930s & 1940s). Often dressed in vintage attire, you can hear him wail away with “In The Mood” or “Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four” and you know this guy really takes his music to heart. Sometimes borrowing the voice of WC Fields, or quoting Mae West or the Marx Brothers, Mikel not only recreates the sound of an era, he exudes the feel as well.

      Mikel grew up on the great Western Prairie where his great aunts and uncles and grandparents had a huge musical impression on him. “They were the youth of the Great Depression and of the Second World War,” Mikel observes. “They used music to help make themselves feel good during hard times, happy from the inside out.”

      In an era of special effects and fast edits, Mikel A. Murphy keeps the art of entertainment alive. His special talents enable him to deliver a sincere, interactive evening of stylized music true to its roots.

      Like a true musical aficionado, Murphy is never far from bursting into song. And if you catch him doing so, chances are the song indicates it’s de rigeur to wear a double-breasted suit. In a way that is reminiscent of polished shoes cutting a jitterbug, Mikel A. Murphy cooks!