Murder By Death / Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons / Ha Ha Tonka

They may call Bloomington, Indiana, home, but since their 2000 formation, Murder by Death have been a band without musical borders. Theirs is a world where Old West murder ballads mingle with rock-injected Western classicism; where an album’s sequencing can take listeners from a haunted back alley in rural Mexico to a raucous Irish pub. All of which is to say, Murder by Death albums don’t just string together songs; they create experiences. With their fifth album (and second for Vagrant), Good Morning, Magpie (04/06/10), Murder by Death continue the tradition of border expansion that drove career standouts like 2006’s In Bocca al Lupo and 2008’s Red of Tooth and Claw. The difference, however, is that this time, the band literally went off the map to get there.

“Travel is a big part of this band’s reason for being,” says Adam Turla, noting that the past few years have seen Murder by Death’s passports stamped in Alaska, Greece, Norway and the Italian island of Sardinia, among other far-flung locales. They have challenged their fans to book them all over the world – in as many unique places as possible. “I personally love the sense of variety you get from traveling, and I’m sure that idea influenced the way I approached a lot of these songs. Trying to use different styles and throw in different influences—whether it’s the way you turn a phrase or play a certain note—you can suggest different places,” he concludes. “That’s the fun of fiction; that’s the fun of movies, and music can have that effect, too. It’s all about being able to transport people to another place.”