MINNEAPOLIS — The Scarlet Goodbye is a new band featuring Jeff Arundel and Daniel Murphy.
The two longtime members of the Twin Cites music scene recently met by chance at a Minneapolis restaurant.
“We were sitting at the bar and we hit it off,” said Arundel, speaking on the Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, Centerstage Minnesota. “We realized that we knew a lot of the same people.”
Before that meeting, the pair operated in different areas of the same music scene. Arundel is a singer-songwriter in the vein of James Taylor, who released his first album in 1993.
“My wife calls me a soft rocker,” Arundel joked.
On the other hand, Daniel Murphy is a founding member of Soul Asylum and Golden Smog, two internationally acclaimed bands in alternative rock and alt-country respectively. Although most well known for mellow smash hit “Runaway Train,” Soul Asylum was a punk band in the early years, coming out of the same hardcore scene as The Replacements and Hüsker Dü.
“I thought they were crude,” said Arundel, joking again. “They probably thought I was slick or something.”
Murphy quit Soul Asylum in 2012 and stepped away from the music scene, even selling his equipment. It was the chance meeting with Arundel that brought him back into making music. Aside from realizing they had a lot in common, the duo soon noticed their musical styles complemented each other.
According to Arundel, he is the narrative writer, something that comes from his singer-songwriter background. Murphy is more visual. The two encouraged each other to step out of their comfort zones and try new things.
The Scarlet Goodbye released their debut album, Hope’s Eternal, earlier this year, and are already back in the studio working on a follow-up. They will also be playing two shows in Northern Minnesota this weekend, both along the North Shore.
This Friday, Aug. 25, they are playing a free outdoor show in Silver Bay at City Center Park. The following evening, they are playing an acoustic show in Two Harbors.
For more information on The Scarlet Goodbye, their upcoming shows and their new music, listen to the complete interview with Jeff Arundel above.
Centerstage Minnesota, Fridays at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on KAXE/KBXE, is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
