BAEBLE CONCERTS: Alexi Murdoch at The Mercury Lounge

Alexi Murdoch has been places. He's seen things. He's collected tales from his birthplace in London, his childhood years in Scotland and Athens, his subsequent move to North Carolina, and his recent migration to the West Coast. If the job of a singer/songwriter is to spin stories into musical narratives, then Murdoch's jetsetting experience makes him one of the most uniquely qualified storytellers out there.

But there's something more to this musician's appeal, something that greatly overshadows his well-traveled past. Murdoch's voice is deep, rich, and unassuming. His guitar playing is simple and consistent. His backing band is dependable, fully able to support Murdoch's baritone vocals with quiet guitar arpeggios or bombastic, cymbal-crashing sounds. Overall, Murdoch is simply solid, with a catalog of acoustic material that sounds equally at home in coffeehouses, TV shows, eclectic radio programming, and mega-movie soundtracks.

- Andrew Leahey