Eulogy for Joshua “Bubba” Murrell, given by Brenda Lowry at Church of the Epiphany, New Iberia, LA on December 19, 2023.

How could one possibly distill the essence of Joshua “Bubba” Murrell?
It’s a daunting task… in a beautiful poem (which I’ll read shortly) written by a friend, Gene Dugas, Bubba is described as a Teacher, a Brother, an Artist and Friend. I’ll add to that – he was also a Mentor, a bit of a Mad Scientist, and a Mystic.

Bubba was a Teacher. He had so much knowledge about so many things, and was happy to share his knowledge. We’d been friends since the early 80s, but we didn’t really get close until a little over a decade later after he’d moved back home to New Iberia. And that happened because I needed a teacher. I called him, needing some help with a song I was writing…and that call sparked a long friendship and musical / creative partnership. He was a Mentor to sooo many young musicians – AND to me and many other friends.

He was a Brother of the heart to me and many others. He became part of my family – and Gene, Jody, Phillip, and so many of you can say the same. He was always there for you (although often running a bit late). He was the guy who’d show up at family gatherings with something reallllly interesting…like a potato gun. Remember when potato guns were a thing in the late 90’s? Well, my husband David had built one; a perfectly engineered, pristine, gleaming potato gun made of PVC.

Bubba was inspired by this…so he created a Vegetable Relocation Device. A potato gun, yes, but painted in camoflage, with a laser scope and “magazine.” Then, these guys figured out you could shoot a potato with a flaming tail if you nailed steel wool to the potato. One evening they launched a flaming potato across the road….and caught the cane field on fire. Oops.

Bubba was an artist. He was an incredible musician who could play almost anything. We’d go to the NAMM shows (that’s a big music trade show) and Bubba would play everything he could get his hands on, and ask a million questions about software, new innovations, etc. His Grammy award was for production/engineering and he could team his technical gift with artistic vision. He composed instrumentals of rich, haunting beauty. He was a woodworker. He enjoyed playing with creative software – creating AI images, and virtual theme parks – just for fun. From Bubba, I learned that the creative process isn’t always about being serious – that it’s ok to be messy, and ok to have fun and be silly (and we all know…Bubba could be really, really silly sometimes.)

He never lost touch with his inner child. He approached the world with wonder, awe and curiosity. Now, his inner child was sometimes his OUTER child as well, but there was always method in his madness. He had a collection of stuffed animals because he found that they were more effective (and less costly) than acoustic foam in adjusting the acoustics of any space. Bubba was NEVER afraid to dive in and FIND WHAT WORKED. I’m surprised we don’t have a giant stuffed rabbit tucked up in the choir loft here to help with acoustics. (Several years ago we added harmony vocals to the Women at the Well material. We used his bathroom as a vocal booth, and I stood there and sang Gospel while looking at a Happy New Year teddy bear.)

Bubba’s technical genius meant that he understood how things worked, and often improved on them. He’s probably rewiring the PA system in heaven right now. He took great care of our computer network at hoh-PAK, sometimes staying VERY late to work out a glitch or put Microsoft in its place. He configured and installed the sound system here at Epiphany, and kept our pipe organ tuned and repaired.

To some people Bubba could appear scattered (and late), but his mind worked in different ways and moved at warp speed. I’ve seen him hyperfocus – for example, when producing Terrance Simean’s Live! Worldwide CD…when working on our Blue Merlot CD…when moving the pipe organ that his dad had built from St. Peter’s church to its new home at the Community of Christ Crucified in St. Martinville. Bubba disassembled that organ, and oversaw the moving of it – pipe by lovingly wrapped pipe – and consequent reassembly, tuning and tweaking.

He was a bit of a mad scientist…Bubba tapped into this almost otherworldly river of creativity. He was a conduit for ideas and problem solving, and he shared those ideas freely. On more than one NAMM show occasion, we’d see an idea that Bubba had suggested to a company at an earlier show (for instance, a short guitar capo) being released as a new product. Were they inspired by Bubba, or was it one of those ideas floating around the cosmos, with several people tuning in at the same time? Either way, he was a visionary. He wanted – needed – to get ideas out there, and he had an endless supply of them.

What was SO much fun about playing music with him was that we both believed that the music should lead. Sometimes we’d work on specific projects – without him, the Women at the Well program would not have reached as many people as it did – and sometimes we’d just sit and play. Some of our fun projects over the years included Blue Merlot, a series of library and school concerts and presentations, Women at the Well concerts and tour, countless gigs as duo, trio, and full band, parody songs, silly songs (such as Yoo Mama Wears Army Boots) and improvisations that will live on in my heart.

Bubba was a Mystic – He had the soul of an artist, filled from a deep well of spirituality and nurtured by never-ending curiosity. He had a deep faith. I already miss our long conversations about God, life, salvation, and eternity. But he now knows the answers to the questions we would discuss. Whenever I’d feel a bit adrift and uncertain in my faith, I’d tell Bubba, “I’m a little weak in faith right now. Can I borrow some of yours?” and he’d always say yes…and he’d carry me through.

I’d like to share Gene Dugas’ beautiful poem with you. It’s called The Man with the Beautiful Mind:

The Brother, the Artist, the Teacher, the Friend;
His knowledge and talents seemed without end.
He heeded God’s call and left this world behind;
The man we all knew with the beautiful mind.-

The Brother was faithful, funny and true
When you needed him most, he’d pull you through
With love and kindness he’d give of his time –
The man we all knew with the beautiful mind.

The Artist created a wonderful place
That was heard, seen and felt when you entered his space.
The sounds the sights and colors divine
From the man we all knew with the beautiful mind.

The Teacher was patient, thoughtful and fair.
Never greedy or selfish, his knowledge he’d share.
He took us along on his wonderful ride:
The man we all knew with the beautiful mind.

The Friend was so special to each and to all
But his time here was done, so he heeded God’s call.
He will surely be missed and we’ll shed a tear,
But he left without pain, without sorrow or fear.
So let us rejoice, and cherish the ride
That we took with the man with the beautiful mind.

Above all, Bubba was a friend. A friend to me, to my family, to all of you who loved him. He loved us back, and his faults are washed clean by his Savior. I’d like to share a thought Bubba wrote just a few months ago, about the word Godspeed. God invented light; God moves faster than light. God moves at the speed of love. We will miss you, dear friend; Godspeed. And we know that since your arrival…heaven will never be the same.