GEORGIA MURRAY BAND FINALIST ON COVER ME CANADA By Mary Ellen Green arts@mondaymag.com
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ictorians may not know the name Georgia Murray now, but they soon will. Her star is rising fast. The urban songstress grew up in Port McNeill, is a Canadian College of Performing Arts (in Oak Bay) graduate, has opened for the likes of Talib Kweli, Jurassic 5, Atmosphere and Warren G, has appeared on TV’s Boston Legal and has written an international hit song that went No. 1 — in South Korea — completely without her knowledge. (Her song “We’ll Never Know” was stolen, plagiarized and passed off as an original song by Korean pop star Lee Hyori, called “Swing.” It topped the Korean music charts in April 2010. Murray was paid a cash settlement this past June.) She was recently launched into the spotlight when she was revealed as one of eight finalists in the new live music show, “Cover Me Canada,” which airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on CBC. Accompanied by her five-piece band, which never played together before arriving in Toronto last week for rehearsals, Murray is competing to win a $100,000 cash prize, a recording contract for their first original single to be released by Universal Music Canada, as well as featured airplay of their single on CBC Radio 2. “I was so overwhelmed when I found out because I was competing against all these people from across the whole country,” says Murray. “I can’t believe I’m one of the eight. It’s really amazing. I’m really proud of it but I’m also in shock.” Finalists perform a cover of an iconic Canadian song and look for audience votes to be kept in the competition. The star judges, former New Kid Jordan Knight, RnB singer Deborah Cox and industry bigwig Ron Fair offer constructive criticism after each live performance and ultimately decide who stays and who goes. Murray, who says she’s not a fan of reality television, reluctantly made an audition video after friends and family kept sending her emails about the competition. The tape caught the eyes of the producers who invited her to perform live to the show’s executives. “I auditioned for the executive producer, Don Weiner in Vancouver. He created Showtime at the Apollo and put [her idol] Lauryn Hill on the show when she was 13 and Mariah Carey before anyone knew her — it’s unreal. I had to sing privately for this dude in the Cellar at like, 12:30 p.m. Luckily, I didn’t
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Victoria singer hits reality TV
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Georgia Murray (centre) and her band.
know who he was at the time or else I probably would have died,” says Murray. She found out just days before taping was about to start that she was a finalist — and that she had to put together a band. “This is our first time as a full band. Basically me, my producer, DJ and co-writer D Whiz and our electric guitar player, David Parfit have been gigging together in Victoria and Vancouver over the last several months,” says Murray. They picked up bassist Jayme Langen, drummer Travis Nelson and violinist Kytami from Vancouver to augment the sound. “She’s the most exceptional electric string player you’ve ever seen in your life,” says Murray. “I saw her perform live a few times and was blown away. We were already scheduled to play Rifflandia together, so instead of Rifflandia I asked her to come to Toronto. It’s working out beyond amazing.” Murray was scheduled to play Rifflandia for the Canada’s Leading Career Training Provider. first time Fri., Sept. 23 at Phillips Brewery alongside Michael Rault, DJ Anger and KO. She had to pull out last minute when she heard about the opportunity with CBC. cdi_MondayMag_runs Sept.indd 4 Murray conquered Shania Twain’s “Up!” on last week’s episode and will be taking on Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” Sun. Sept. 25. “I nearly died when I found out what I was going to be singing,” says Murray about the country song. “I remember listening to [her] music growing up, but never in a million years would I have thought that I would be covering it.” Murray’s EP, Just a Dream (released in June) is available for download on her website and on iTunes. Follow Georgia Murray on Twitter at @ CMC_Georgia, download the facebook app at facebook.com/covermecanada, and watch Murray’s videos on youtube or at cbc.ca/covermecanada. M
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