Alexi Murdoch

If you don't recognize the name Alexi Murdoch, chances are you've heard his voice: a soothing lilt of Scottish-bred earthiness that shows up in the darnedest places. Take that wildly popular song "Orange Sky." After being featured in films as dissimilar as Garden State and Ladder 49, Murdoch's achey-broguey little chestnut found its way onto TV's prime-time rotation (Dawson's Creek, The OC, House and Prison Break), in addition to commercials for Hallmark Cards and the Honda Element. More troubadour than one-trick pony, Murdoch specializes in a romantic brand of introspective folk that draws inevitable comparisons to the brooding Nick Drake. Less of a lyrical force, Murdoch still wraps his own understated cosmic tidings in a package compelling enough to rival every sad-bastard guitar slinger from Cat Stevens to Iron & Wine. With his exceptional debut full-length, Time Without Consequence, the 33-year-old singer-songwriter remains a cultural anomaly: hidden in plain sight, but eerily familiar.