10-year-old kid musician from Dallas will play SXSW in Austin

The band got accepted to the festival on their first attempt.

Kristin Burns

Marlhy Murphy and Lydia Night of Pretty Little Demons

DALLAS — Marlhy Murphy, one of Dallas’ most ambitious little musicians, is on the roster for Austin's SXSW music festival in March.

Murphy’s newest band, Pretty Little Demons, was created in July out of Los Angeles. The 10-year old drummer is also part of the Dallas-based all-girl cover band called We’re Not Dudes (which has opened for Denton's Sarah Jaffe) and the Led Zeppelin cover band Zeppos.

Wendy Murphy, Marlhy’s mom, says Marlhy has "broken the [age] barrier" for the upcoming festival. She is not the youngest performer at SXSW, but she's certainly much younger than most. “We submitted their first EP that was recorded last summer and got in! We were so surprised,” she said.

Pretty Little Demons came about after Marlhy met Lydia Night, a 12-year-old musician with similar ambitions, in Los Angeles. Marlhy is also working on an acting career and travels back and forth from Dallas to LA on a regular basis. In order to keep up with their busy schedule, Wendy home-schools Marlhy.

Pretty Little Demons — “Daisy”

Posted by prettylittledemons on YouTube.

Marlhy and Lydia quickly wrote their first EP and recorded it in Joshua Tree, California. Their first single, "Daisy," starts off with a slowed, contemplative tone and spikes up to a rambunctious, beat-heavy chorus that shows their youthful zeal and humor. Both of the tiny rock stars sing and play almost every instrument on the record, including the bass, guitar, piano, and drums. Lydia and Marlhy came up with the band’s quirky name Pretty Little Demons by brainstorming paradoxes. They want to be a contradiction.

“They’re both interesting kids: They’re both intense and focused on the music,” said Wendy. “It’s great to see that as an adult. You normally only see that kind of focus when adults are working at it as a career.”

So far, Pretty Little Demons has booked three SXSW showcases. Wendy says their biggest set is scheduled for the evening of Saturday, March 16 -- one of the biggest dates for SXSW -- when they play with two other miniature bands.

They release their EP, Flowers, on February 14.