[quote="Melanie Foster"]Thanks for sharing this information. Quite informative and useful![/quote]

More Here
http://www.pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9833&p=175303&hilit=stef#p175303

Thanks for sharing this information. Quite informative and useful!

Excerpt from "A deeper blue - The life and music of Townes van Zandt":

"As Townes had played more and more shows in Ireland in the 1990s, he had come to enjoy and appreciate the Irish people, the pubs, the music, the countryside, and the idea of Ireland. `People from Ireland and people from Texas ... can both get real sad´, Townes said, explaining his affinity. Both peoples `rebound´, he went on, `when they realize they´ve got the blues forever.´ Townes told an Irish writer of his affinity for Shane MacGowan - leader of Irish punk band the Pogues and Ireland´s greatest living songwriter - and said that one of the songs on the new album was written about him*.

MacGowan´s own affinity for what he called `piss artists´ - great artists who are also alcoholics (he cites James Joyce, in particular)- makes it easy to imagine his reciprocal affinity for Townes".

*[i]From "Talk Townes", an article by Patrick Brennan, February 1995. It is not revealed which song Townes said he wrote with Shane MacGowan in mind.[/i]

A short passage from Mighty Stef's lengthy interview (regarding his work with Shane):

[indent]...The circumstances could hardly be more appropriate. The Mighty Stef is speaking from an old-fashioned coin-operated phone booth in Barcelona airport on the Monday morning following his stag weekend. There’s always a story with Stefan Murphy, whose second album 100 Midnights is a rough-edged but hugely impressive panorama of songwriting styles and sounds, from the bolshy, Brechtian title tune to the poolroom blues of the closing ‘A Pretend Sailors Goodbye’; from No Wave Spector (‘Downtown’) to shlockabilly country death dirges (‘Golden Gloves’).

If the songs frequently invoke Tom Waits’s description of The Pogues as sounding like sailors on shore leave, that’s no accident: both Cait O’Riordain and Shane MacGowan make cameos on the record (Stef is handled by ex Pogues manager Frank Murray), the former on the mother-son duet ‘Safe At Home’, the latter on a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s classic ‘Waitin’ Round To Die’.

“Shane came in armed with another verse for the song,” Stefan recalls, “he thought that this verse he had concocted in his brain was very apt: “A friend, he said he knew how some good money could be made/We found a rich boy walking all alone/I got me a razor blade/And I took him in the shade/And I started me a graveyard of my own.”

Holy shit – that’s some verse.

“He thought that he’d ripped it off Hank Williams, but I searched for those lyrics and I couldn’t find them anywhere, so it was just a little bit of Shane magic that we were privy to at the time. I’ve been asked a series of times by people doing press stuff and friends and family, ‘What was it like meeting Shane MacGowan?’ Well, first of all he was an absolute gentleman and a really good, spirited person to be in the company of. And yeah, when we were finished, we got drunk, we had a great time, we sat around listening to music and playing pool and drinking whiskey and gin and everything else. For somebody of the pedigree of Shane to be contributing to my work was a real thrill – I still don’t understand the full weight of that.”[/indent]

The rest is in Hot Press.

Another review and good news for UK and US fans:
[b]The album ‘100 Midnights’ is due to be released on CD in the US and the UK on 6th March.[/b]

[size=150]The Mighty Stef ‘100 Midnights’[/size]
[i]March 3rd, 2009
Tuneraker.com[/i]
[url=http://www.tuneraker.com/index.php/music-reviews/the-mighty-stef-100-midnights/]Full URL[/url]
[indent]You heard U2, now it is time for some FRESH, NEW talent from Ireland: Meet Dublin’s blue collar rock bard The Mighty Stef.

The Mighty Stef, aka Stefan Murphy, is part Punk rocker and part bohemian. His new album ‘100 Midnights’ shows both sides at work, sounding like the result of a session with Johnny Thunders and Scott Walker in the back room of a pub.

When it comes to music, Stef’s heart beats for rock ‘n’ roll. His sound incorporates a big dollop of New York Punk with the flamboyance of Johnny Thunders and a pinch of blue collar rock a la Springsteen. Stef’s lyrics have a dry humour and his put-downs are cutting.

‘100 Midnights’, his second album to date, focuses on the bohemian side of Stef. The selection of songs favours downtempo numbers and the arrangements smell of seedy dive bars.

The best tracks on the album remind me of Scott Walker’s interpretations of songs by Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. They are bawdy ballads bursting with life, raucous and sad at the same time. Start with the title track ‘100 Midnights’, then check out ‘I Swear I Have No Feeling For That Girl’ and ‘Kings Of New York’ if you like that style.

Stef enlisted the help of some famous friends in the making of this album. Two members of legendary London-Irish hellraisers The Pogues appear as guest vocalists. Original Pogues frontman Shane McGowan duets with Stef on a cover of ‘Waitin Around To Die’, a song written by leftfield Country singer Townes Van Zandt. And Cait O’Riordain, the original Pogues bass player, duets with Stef on the track ‘Safe At Home’.

The rock ‘n’ roll animal that regularly graces Dublin stages for a bit of impromptu mayhem is largely missing from the album. Try ‘Safe At Home’ with Cait O’Riordain for a taster or the ace bubblegum Punk ballad, ‘Downtown’, that would have made Joey Ramone proud. This is real sing-a-long, fists in the air stuff.

‘100 Midnights’ is a great after hours listening album that captures that elegantly wasted feeling like no other.

Stef and his band are currently on tour in the US. They are due to hit the stage of the Mercury Lounge in New York on 7th March and will play three gigs at the prestigious ‘what’s hot in alternative music’ festival SXSW in Austin, Texas, between 19-21st March.[/indent]

Looks like the tour dates have been massaged for The Mighty Stef in NYC. We won't be in town for this one, unfortunately...

but The Tossers would be great to see again!

03-07-2009 20:00 at Mercury Lounge [w/The Tossers]

[quote="dublinrambler"]Thanks for the info. Noel, will look for it in a podcast[/quote]


No bother..

The show is online now. http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/ click on Tuesday. It starts at 1h 37m

They haven't the podcast up yet.

Thanks for the info. Noel, will look for it in a podcast

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/

The Mighty Stef was on Today with Myles Dungan this morning. Pat Kenny is on holidays. The interview started about 1h 30m into the show. It should be online later today. Click on Tuesday in the "Shows from the past week" section. Shane and Ronnie got a brief mention and he sang two songs

[size=150]The Mighty Stef - 100 Midnights [/size]
[b](First Born Recordings)[/b]
[i]Roisin Dwyer
Hotpress
03 Feb 2009 [/i]

[indent]“Nine to five has eaten us alive,” rues Stefan Murphy in his anthemic riposte to the daily grind, ‘Downtown’. Spector-like in its grandeur, replete with Arcade Fire-esque harmonies, this sweeping composition is a compelling opener.

100 Midnights is the second confection from the Dubliner, which follows on from the lauded Sins Of Sainte Catherine. It’s a dramatic collection of multigenre songs, impressively arranged and luxuriantly crafted.

From the country swagger of ‘Sunshine Serenade’ to the Klezmer stylings of ‘I Swear I Have No Feeling For That Girl’ via the hearty sea shanty ‘Nelligan’s Guts’, each is moulded with the versatility of a learned composer.

Elsewhere more wistful territory is explored in ‘Russian Roulette’ with its melancholic canter, downbeat vocals and sombre harmonies.

A variety of influences are also alluded to; ‘Golden Gloves’ brings to mind a ’50s rockabilly prototype Nick Cave, with its swinging melody and gritty vocals, and the title track conjures the ghost of Jacques Brel with its playful accordion and waltz-like time signature.

Lyrical prowess shines in the first of two duets ‘Safe At Home’, which deals with a troubled mother-son relationship. Their difficulties are also mirrored in the incongruous vocal styles, Cait O’Riordain’s sweet tender pleas contrasting sharply with Murphy’s terse, powerful retorts.

The second, a heartfelt reworking of ‘Waiting Around To Die’, featuring an in-form Shane MacGowan, is a tribute to the genius of its author, Townes Van Zandt.

There’s a fearlessness on 100 Midnights, both in the vocal delivery and the territory explored. It’s testament to the skill of the songwriter that so many different styles can be incorporated yet a sense of cohesion still be maintained.

The closing ‘A Pretend Sailor’s Goodbye’ is a delightfully quirky, sentimental ditty with a rousing singalong chorus and a smattering of handclaps for good measure – a perfect ending.

Key Track: ‘Downtown’[/indent]

[quote="Low D"]

Not disagreeing with you, as i love Townes' songs, but i think Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard, Jimmy Dale Gilmour, Nancy Griffith, Guy Clark, The Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Robert Earle Keen, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mudhoney (?!) and many others have all done their bit.

http://www.lonestarwebstation.com/tvzbyothers_m.html[/quote]

True, and there´s some great covers amongst them. Unfortunately he´s not particularly well known in Germany. OK, it´s not very like to change with a record from The Mighty Stef (whom I had never heard of before), but maybe it will at least spread amongst Shane/Pogues fans. :D

By the way, Steve Earle is just about to record (or already is recording) a whole album of TvZ songs to be released later in the year.

[size=150]Review: The Mighty Stef - 100 Midnights[/size]
[b]Firstborn Is Dead Recordings[/b]
[i]By Dave Donnelly
on Monday, 9 February 2009
State Magazine [/i]
[url=http://www.state.ie/blog/review-the-mighty-stef-100-midnights/]Full URL[/url]

[indent]Nick Cave is obsessed by it. Shane MacGowan appears immune to it. Johnny Cash’s fascination with death and mortality came to define his legend and followed him, fittingly, all the way to the grave. Death, too, is a lingering theme through 100 Midnights, the second full-length record from Dubliner the Mighty Stef (né Stefan Murphy).

Keeping with a macabre theme, 100 Midnights follows the release last May of the Death Threats EP, a mostly acoustic effort. That EP marked the last ever recorded performance of Ronnie Drew, on a cover of Pete St. John’s lesser-known classic ‘The Mero,’ before he too succumbed to the allure of the grave. The Irish folk tradition is not as pronounced here as on the EP, with the full-band arrangements tending to take it closer to his Cash and proto-punk influences than anything, but Stef’s meaty Dublin brogue is unmistakable. Like an Irish Iggy Pop, he is: loud, brash but ultimately far more subtle than you’ll ever realise.

Opening track ‘Downtown’ is an obvious choice for a lead single, an energetic rocker in the Springsteen mould, but it’s merely a springboard for the rest of the album. ‘Safe At Home’ is a duet with former Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan and wears the influence of that band proudly, shifting seamlessly between a sparse, mournful verse (sung by O’Riordan) and Stef’s thunderous, organ-assisted garage rock chorus. The title track and ‘I Swear I Have No Feelings For That Girl,’ sea shanties both, see Stef adopt a smoky tone that’s eerily reminiscent of the late Drew, while ‘Golden Gloves’ is the most unlikely love song imaginable, as Stef howls out blue lines on top of fuzzy 12-bar riffs and boogie woogie piano: “come rain down fire on me baby / hit me with your golden gloves.”

‘Sunshine Serenade’ is a deceptive title for a cautionary tale about drug-taking and child mortality, and the upbeat, Memphis-country arrangement is just as misleading, but it turns out to be the most moving track on the album, hinging on the chorus line: “you will not leave this hospital until you give me your word: don’t let it steal the sunshine from your eyes.” ‘Russian Roulette’ is a dreamy tribute to Johnny Ace, the original rock n’ roll suicide case, but the duet with Shane MacGowan, a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Waiting Round To Die,’ is just downright discomforting considering the parallels between the lives of MacGowan and its authors. Well, nobody said it would be easy to digest.[/indent]

[quote="Low D"][quote="The Duke of Ingmar"]
I hope this will finally help giving TvZ´s songs the recognition they deserve.
[/quote]

Not disagreeing with you, as i love Townes' songs, but i think Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard, Jimmy Dale Gilmour, Nancy Griffith, Guy Clark, The Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Robert Earle Keen, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mudhoney (?!) and many others have all done their bit.

http://www.lonestarwebstation.com/tvzbyothers_m.html[/quote]

Absolutely....and you can add Justin TOWNES Earle to that list too- Steve Jnr. and a brilliant artist in his own right.

[quote="The Duke of Ingmar"]
I hope this will finally help giving TvZ´s songs the recognition they deserve.
[/quote]

Not disagreeing with you, as i love Townes' songs, but i think Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard, Jimmy Dale Gilmour, Nancy Griffith, Guy Clark, The Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Robert Earle Keen, Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mudhoney (?!) and many others have all done their bit.

http://www.lonestarwebstation.com/tvzbyothers_m.html

[quote="dublinrambler"]

well good golly, miss molly....looking forward to hearing this. Townes Van Zandt is totally fantastic[/quote]

Well, talking about (musical) dreams come true ... have to get the CD as soon as it comes out.

I hope this will finally help giving TvZ´s songs the recognition they deserve.

WAITIN' AROUND TO DIE
Townes Van Zandt

Sometimes I don't know where
this dirty road is taking me
sometimes I can't even see the reason why
I guess I keep a-gamblin'
lots of booze and lots of ramblin'
it's easier than just waitin' around to die

One time, friends, I had a ma
I even had a pa
he beat her a belt once 'cause she cried
She told him to take care of me
headed down to Tennessee
it's easier than just waitin' around to die

I came of age and I found a girl
in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit in on the sly
I tried to kill the pain, bought some wine
and hopped a train
seemed easier than just waitin' around to die

A friend said he knew
where some easy money was
we robbed a man, and brother did we fly
the posse caught up with me
and drug me back to Muskogee
it's two long years I've been waitin' around to die

Now I'm out of prison
I got me a friend at last
he don't drink or steal or cheat or lie
His name's Codeine
he's the nicest thing I've seen
together we're gonna wait around and die
together we're gonna wait around and die