Music: Meet the Strangers at Murphy’s

This weekend at Murphy’s Irish Pub is both an exciting and a bittersweet one. A new band takes the Alley Stage for the first time, and another band makes their final appearance.

The exciting part of the weekend is the band making their debut performance at Murphy’s. They are the Wreckless Strangers, formerly known as the Well-Known Strangers. They use the term “California country soul” to describe their self-carved genre. There should be a note of “rock” in that term, too.

The Strangers mine the Americana vein to their best advantage. They have traditional rock instrumentation and lean heavily on rock rhythms. But the essence of the band lies in folk songs, in tales to be told and melodies to be sung.

A six-piece ensemble, the players in the Wreckless Strangers are all veterans of the Bay Area rock scene and boast some pretty impressive credentials. By name and experience, they are Amber Morris (Tim Hockenberry, Narada Michael Walden, The Eric Martin Band, The Soul Jah Family band) on vocals; David Noble (Poor Man's Whiskey, Pardon The Interruption) on lead guitar, vocals; Joshua Zucker (The Jones Gang, Rowan Brothers) on bass; Austin de Lone (Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, The Fabulous Thunderbirds) on keys; Mick Hellman (The Go To Hell Man Band) on drums and vocals; and Rob Anderson (emerging talent and repeat world champion cyclist) on guitar.

Keyboard magician Austin de Lone said, “We’ve kind of grown and evolved. The band sounds really good, the songs are really good.”

He knows “really good.” De Lone was a member of a band called Eggs Over Easy that was headquartered in London, England in the early ‘70s. They are credited with being a pioneer of the “pub rock” sound that Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Rockpile picked up and ran with.

De Lone has played with a ton of well-known players. In addition to Lowe, Costello, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, de Lone has performed with Bill Kirchen’s Moonlighters, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt and Boz Scaggs.

De Lone added he’s a “big fan of playing original songs… everybody in the band writes, mainly the lead singer Amber Morris and David Noble.”

The band has several albums out, the most recent is called “When the Sun and a Blue Star Collide.” The name “just rolls right off the tongue,” de Leon said jokingly. The albums will all be for sale at the nearby merch table. A tip jar will no doubt be located strategically nearby. Their show fills the 5:30 dinner music slot at Murphy’s on Sunday evening. Reservations are not required, but an early arrival ensures a good table.

The bittersweet flavor we will all taste Friday night is the swan song performance of the very popular local trio, Full Circle. Bob Edmondson, Cliff Zyskowski and Eric Joost have been playing together for years. In the case of Edmondson and Joost, the musical partnership began in high school in Ohio. Their sound is clean, imminently listenable and decidedly fun. Zyskoswski brings a jazzy and playful keyboard element to the trio, Joost adds a folky flair, and Edmundson delivers a rockin’ bluesy flavor.

Alas, it was an excellent cruise, but their ship is about to dock. Like George Harrison sang, as he knew all too well, “all things must pass.” Full Circle’s members are branching out to musical points unknown. Their final show is tonight at 7:30 in the alley at Murphy’s. The musical community that is the Valley of the Tunes will miss them terribly. Nice job, boys.

If Full Circle and the Wreckless Strangers are the outer cookie of the musical Oreo Murphy’s is presenting this weekend, the delicious creamy filling are the Saturday acts. The wonderful Kerry Daly leads her band through two hours of rockin’ bluesy tunes, starting at 2 p.m. The night show is the dynamic and powerful Levi Lloyd Band. Their downbeat is at 7:30 p.m.