Inside the Life of a Full-Time Gigging Musician – VTS Student Highlight: Chris Murphy

Making a living as a singer and full-time musician is a dream for is a goal for a lot of singers and can be achieved in different ways. Once of these ways is by playing gigs! I sat down with VTS student Chris Murphy—a full-time gigging artist in New York City—who shares the real, unfiltered story of how he built a music career from the ground up.

Here’s how it went:

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The First In The Family

🎙 Lara: How did you get into being a full-time performing artist in New York?

💬 Chris: It’s been quite the journey. I’ve probably had music in my bones my whole life, but I don’t come from a musical family. So it wasn’t something I thought was for me at first.

Chris grew up in Chicago and started out in blue-collar jobs, but realized in his early 20s that he needed something to give him passion—or he’d end up lost.

💬 Chris: There was a point where I just said: “I’m gonna end up dead or on drugs if I don’t find something that gives me purpose.” So I went after music.

He started at a local community college on the South Side of Chicago where he learned guitar, jazz ensemble, theory—you name it.

💬 Chris: I was the only white kid in the rhythm section of the jazz band. Got handed in real quick.

From Community College to Berklee

🎙 Lara: Wait—you went to Berklee too?!

💬 Chris: Yeah! I was part of the first year they started doing auditions. I had no idea what I was doing, but I somehow got in. I was definitely in over my head… but I loved it.

Chris wasn’t sure whether to focus on his strengths (songwriting, lyric writing) or his challenges (like music production).

💬 Chris: There’s a saying: If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. I love being around people who are better than me. It makes me better. I needed to be around people who were invested in themselves and their craft. People who were creative and focused. That changed everything for me.

And even now, years later, he still seeks out opportunities to grow—which is what led him to VoxTape Studios.

Stage Confidence & Perspective

🎙 Lara: You gig full-time now… how do you keep your mindset grounded with that kind of schedule?

💬 Chris: Nobody is looking at you the way you’re looking at you. The people who might judge you… those people don’t even matter. Just let it go.

He shared how releasing the need for perfection helped him become a stronger performer—and how, as singers, we’re often our own worst critics.

💬 Chris: You’ve got to get over yourself. And once you do? That’s where the magic happens.

Vocal Health in the Real World

With back-to-back gigs in every kind of weather, vocal health is non-negotiable. Chris has learned to care for his voice like a pro.

💬 Chris: Being an Irish artist, I’m always excited for March. Last year I had 26 gigs that month, sometimes up to 3 gigs in one day.

Here are some of his favorite ways of taking care of his voice:

• no alcohol in March (it dries you out!)

• 1 gallon of water and tea

• enough sleep

• straw phonation

• technique/releasing tension (what he worked on with coach Emily from our team!)

• pace yourself

• warm ups & cool downs for each gig

As a working singer, stamina and technique matter more than ever. Chris credits his growth in large part to the work he’s done on his voice—really developing vocal efficiency and awareness. Of course that doesn’t take away from the importance of artistry and storytelling! But Chris said that those things come more naturally to him.

💬 Chris: I have a raw talent for singing so artistry comes easy to me. But I’ve picked up a lot of bad habits along the way, which left me without a voice at the end of a long night. That’s why I came to you, to help me do what I do more sustainably.

Chris’ Coaching Session

We spent a couple minutes working on one of his original songs and the theme of pacing yourself and only doing as much as necessary came up again. Here’s a sneak peak into what we worked on.

Chris’s story is a reminder that it’s not about having a perfect background or a polished plan—it’s about grit, growth, and keeping the music at the center of it all.

Follow Chris and his journey on socials @murphyslawyer.nyc

Check out his website here: https://www.murphyslawyer.nyc/

To hear the full conversation and more stories from Chris’s journey, listen to the full episode of From Singer to Artist below.

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