Page 30 - Inspire Magazine 2019

Buddy
Many musicians dream of hitting
the heights, but few see those dreams come
true. Asa Murphy is an exception; in fact, he’s
exceptional in so many ways.
Inheriting his father’s love of music, particularly
for the classic-era swing-jazz of Frank Sinatra,
Ella Fitzgerald and Bobby Darin, Asa set about
making his way to the top in the traditional way
– playing pubs and clubs in his native Liverpool,
across the north of England, and then through-
out the UK.
And it paid off. Asa has topped the bill at
Liverpool’s Empire Theatre, drawn a standing
ovation at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s club in
London, and played to packed houses the length
and breadth of Britain.
He’s even shared a glass of wine back-stage
with Tony Bennett. When you move in those
circles, you really know you’ve arrived.
When he plays his swing music, he fronts both a
quartet and a full sixteen-piece orchestra.
But he also steps into the spotlight in another
role, as 1950s rock’n’roll sensation Buddy Holly.
Asa is the star and driving force behind the
hit stage show, ‘Buddy Holly Lives - The Music
Didn’t Die’ which is rocking audiences across
the UK.
“Buddy was just 22 when he died in a plane
crash. He’d written hit after hit; songs that
audiences still love to this day.
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It was the sheer quality of his music
that really grabbed me – I look at him as being
on the same level as songwriters of the ilk of
Cole Porter, Irving Berlin or Johnny Mercer.
I mean, ‘Oh Boy’, ‘True Love Ways’, ‘That’ll Be
the Day’ and ‘Peggy Sue’ – whether people
know those songs or not, they hear them once
and that’s all it takes – they get them!
That’s evident when we play our show – the
audience is straight up out of their seats and
right into it. The response is incredible.”
Asa is a long-term friend and professional
colleague of Bob Dunne, a gentleman well-
known to Roy Castle Lung Cancer Founda-
tion as a fundraiser, ambassador and all-round
fairy-godfather to the charity for many years.
When Bob took an interest in helping to
promote Asa’s ‘Buddy Holly show’, well, the
result was inevitable.
Asa grinned, “Yes, Bob mentioned that the
Foundation would love to hear from us.
There’s a strong connection. You see, a few
years ago, my wife’s mother, Linda Jones,
was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
“The diagnosis came too late. She was
diagnosed on Christmas Eve and passed away
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on February 3 - so quickly.
Linda and her husband Ed had moved to Spain