New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On October 2, acclaimed author, musician, and songwriter Mishka Shubaly will release Coward's Path via Invisible Hands Music. The album is his third solo effort and follows his time with NYC's punk band Freshkills. Shulaby is an acclaimed author who has written six best-selling kindle singles (with a full-length memoir out in March on PublicAffairs) and has 20+ years of experience abusing drugs and alcohol.
This week, YVYNL premiered "Ohio," the second single to be released from the new album. Stream the track here: https://soundcloud.com/missingpiecegroup/06-ohio-1
Recently, Death and Taxes premiered the album's latest single "New Jersey Valentine's Day Orphan Blues."
The album is a document of Shubaly's wasted years, a eulogy for alcoholism and addiction. It's comprised of twelve tracks of drinking songs, snapshots from a life careening out of control — tunes about death and darkness and failure and the cold comfort of oblivion. Somehow, it's also incredibly funny.
In 2008, Shubaly's life imploded. In 2007, he had won a great fan and advocate, the renegade comedian Doug Stanhope. Stanhope flew him all over the country, playing the biggest shows of his life. But his appetite for drugs, alcohol, and chaos alienated even Stanhope. After losing a series of jobs, bands, friends, and girlfriends, Shubaly finally bottomed out. In the spring of 2009, he got sober.
Five years later, he's returned with a vengeance. He recorded the bare bones ofCoward's Path on an 8-track reel-to-reel in an unheated, condemned squat in Long Island City in 2008, then sat on those basic tracks for years.
"My life fell apart and it took me a couple of years to put it back together. Once I was no longer out of my head, well, I was sober and I wasn't sure what my relationship was to these songs. So they just sat on tape while my writing took off," says Shubaly of the delay. "After four years sober, I knew that I was proud of the writing and that the songs didn't have the power to derail me."
The result is a record that is less stripped-down rock 'n' roll, like his previous releases, and more ensemble work, featuring accordion, upright bass, mellotron, vibes, weird percussion, maracas, bells, tape hiss, and even the sound of a passing airplane. Shubaly's black-hearted paeans to inebriation and annihilation shimmer with damaged glory.
"With Coward's Path, well, you've drank the bar closed, they've kicked everyone else out and pulled the gate down so it's just the bar staff and their friends. The drugs come out. You're drinking top shelf liquor for free but it's costing you more than if you paid for it because you're tipping so much.
Everything gets better; everything gets worse. The party turns weird. The party turns bad. Shit gets totally out of control. And then you have to stumble out into the daylight and confront what you've done."
US Tour Dates:
9/11 San Antonio, TX -
Blind Tiger @ Magic Time Machine w/ Jay Whitecotton
9/12 - Arlington, TX -
Sunshine Bar
w/ Mike Wiebe from Riverboat Gamblers, Brian Breckenridge, Jay Whitecotton
9/13 - Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves w/ Ron Babcock, Mike Wiebe from Riverboat Gamblers, Brian Breckenridge, Jay Whitecotton
9/14 - OKC, Oklahoma - TBA
9/15 - Amarillo, TX - Leftwoods Bar w/ Michael Dean Damron
9/16 - Colorado Springs, CO - Triple Nickel
9/17 - Denver, CO - Three Kings
9/23 - Portland, OR - Dante's
9/24 - Seattle, WA - Funhouse w/ Star Anna
9/30 - Yakima, WA - The Seasons w/ Star Anna
10/2 - Brooklyn, NY - Grand Victory **with very special guests
10/3 - Brooklyn, NY - the Wick w/ GIRAFFES
10/5 - New York, NY - Hi Fi
10/7 - Ellensburg, WA - Old Skool w/ Star Anna
10/8 - Spokane, WA - Jones Radiator w/ Star Anna
10/9 - Portland, OR - Fluff 'n' Gravy w/ Star Anna
10/10 - Salem, OR - Level B Theatre w/ Andy Andrist & Eric
Alexander Moore
Find up-to-date tour information here: https://www.mishkashubaly.com/events/
www.mishkashubaly.com
www.invisiblehands.co.uk
