Editorials
David Lee Murphy Delivers Career-Spanning Show at Old Washington Music Festival
by Dave Parsons
There’s something about David Lee Murphy. There always has been. The summer sun was beginning its descent over the rolling hills of the Guernsey County Fairground at the Old Washington Music Festival on Saturday, July 19, 2025, when Murphy, whose career spans more than three decades, delivered a powerhouse performance that reminded everyone why his songs have remained staples of country radio for so long.
No elaborate production. No over-rehearsed banter. Just song after song that hit like tailgate memories and jukebox time machines. From Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean covers to his own hits and back again, David Lee Murphy turned that Saturday slot into a masterclass in country music comfort food.
David Lee Murphy was born in Herrin, Illinois, a southern Illinois town steeped in coal country roots and the kind of grit that shows up in both voice and attitude, in 1959. He moved to Nashville in the early 1980s with a dream not unlike a thousand others. But he had something more: a poet’s touch, a honky-tonk heart, and a guitar case full of tunes that would one day shape the sound of country radio.
His first big break came as a writer. He penned hits for other artists before ever stepping into the spotlight himself. But it was his 1994 debut album Out with a Bang that made his name stick. That record gave us Party Crowd and Dust on the Bottle. Both songs became instant classics. One was a Friday night anthem. The other, a slow-sippin sermon on love and memory. And both have aged like well-worn boots.
Unlike many of his ’90s contemporaries, Murphy never chased trends. He never pivoted to pop-country. He never tried to reinvent himself with a cowboy hat and auto-tune. He just wrote and sang. As the 2000s rolled in, Murphy stepped out of the spotlight and leaned into the craft—writing hits for others. And what a list it became.
From the moment Murphy opened with Out With a Bang, it was clear that the 66-year-old performer had lost none of his stage presence or vocal power. The crowd, a mix of longtime fans who remembered his ’90s heyday and younger listeners discovering his catalog through streaming services, responded with immediate enthusiasm.
You could feel the energy shift the moment he stepped on stage, said Jennifer Walsh, a 42-year-old fan from Columbus who attended the festival with her teenage daughter. My daughter knew some of his songs from Spotify, but seeing him live was something else entirely. He commands that stage like someone half his age.
The setlist Murphy delivered was a masterful blend of his biggest hits and carefully chosen covers that showcased both his versatility as a performer and his deep knowledge of country music’s contemporary landscape. After the opening, he immediately shifted into Loco, one of his most beloved uptempo songs that had the crowd singing along from the first chorus.
What set Murphy’s Old Washington performance apart was his thoughtful integration of cover songs throughout the setlist. Rather than simply performing his hits and calling it a night, Murphy demonstrated his deep appreciation for contemporary country music by including carefully chosen covers that complemented his original material.
His rendition of Big Green Tractor, the Jason Aldean hit, showed Murphy’s ability to adapt to the more rock-influenced sound that has come to dominate country radio. Similarly, his covers of Justin Moore’s Why We Drink and Kenny Chesney’s Pirate Flag demonstrated Murphy’s understanding of country music’s evolution while staying true to his own artistic identity. These weren’t note-for-note recreations but probably more like Murphy helped create them.
The parade of hit songs from Murphy’s pen, an aspect of his career that has kept him active in Nashville long after his radio heyday, continued for most of the set. He co-wrote the songs Living in Fast Forward, Pirate Flag, and Everything’s Gonna Be All Right for Kenny Chesney. He even added his co-penned Hurricane, which Parker McCollum was responsible for being added to a lot of country streaming platforms. Bottom line is, David Lee Murphy knows how to write hit country songs.
The audience’s response to Murphy’s performance highlighted country music’s unique ability to bridge generational gaps. Older fans who remembered Murphy’s radio dominance in the 1990s sang along to every word of his classics, while younger attendees discovered the power of his songwriting in real time.
The covers Murphy included served as bridges between different eras of country music, allowing fans of various ages to find common ground. That was when he brought them all together in one big party crowd.
If ever a song fit a festival, it’s Party Crowd. The band kicked in, and the crowd down front moved forward. No one was left in lawn chairs. People danced like it was 1995 again. Murphy roared through the verses, let the crowd take the chorus, and stood back as the field echoed the final line together.
This is his most requested…. His most quoted…. His best-loved song….. Well, that is until the slow roll of the opening notes of the next song. The entire historical biography of one Creole Williams will bring a country festival crowd to their peak energy.
Creole Williams lived down a dirt road…..
The band pulled it down to a hush, and Murphy sang that opening verse nearly a cappella.
Don’t let it fool ya about what’s inside…
As the chorus rose, the sky began to darken with something more than night. The rain was coming…and no one cared. This was the moment they came for. For 3 minutes, everyone gave the person next to them their rendition of Dust on the Bottle, turning the Guernsey County Fairgrounds into the largest communal karaoke bar in Ohio. Murphy tipped his cap, said his thank you’s, and darted into the wings.
And the crowd just got louder, and more frenzied, and for the first time all weekend, they called an entertainer back out on stage. Murphy returned for an encore that caught everyone off guard. Instead of another country classic, he launched into Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode, a choice that initially surprised but ultimately delighted the crowd.
The song selection wasn’t entirely random. The song has been a mainstay in setlists for decades, but it was the perfect upbeat way to wrap up a set of solid country music, with some good classic rock and roll. The performance of Johnny B. Goode provided a high-energy conclusion to Murphy’s set and left the crowd on an energetic high note, leading into Alabama.
For the thousands who attended the Old Washington Music Festival on July 19, 2025, this performance will likely remain a highlight of the festival. David Lee Murphy didn’t come to Old Washington to prove anything; he came to remind the fans what real country music sounds like.
And on a Saturday night, under a sky holding back a storm, David Lee Murphy did what he’s always done best.
He sang like the bottle wasn’t dusty at all.
It just needed another pour.
David Lee Murphy Setlist
Old Washington Music Festival – Saturday, July 19, 2025
- Out With a Bang
- Loco
- Big Green Tractor
- The More I Drink (Blake Shelton cover)
- Way Out Here
- Why We Drink (Justin Moore cover)
- Here and Now (Kenny Chesney cover)
- Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not (Thompson Square cover)
- Hurricane (Parker McCollum cover)
- Anywhere With You (Jake Owen cover)
- Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
- Pirate Flag (Kenny Chesney cover)
- The Only Way I Know (Jason Aldean cover)
- Party Crowd
- Dust On The Bottle
Encore: 16. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover)
