Album Notes

Mishka Shubaly’s first songs were written in a grim series of basement apartments, beginning with an unfinished and unheated basement in his mother’s rented duplex in Lafayette, Colorado. Just seventeen, he was working as the night manager of Sonic Burger and attending college full time. “My dad had just left us, our house had gotten repossessed, and my mom and I were totally broke. I didn’t have a dresser to keep my clothes in so I just brought a bunch of green pickle buckets home from work and kept my clothes in them. It worked fine, but I always smelled-- strongly --of pickles.” The darkness, isolation and chill of that basement in Colorado and the unflappable sense of humor it bred has never left the music of Mishka Shubaly.

In August of 2000, Mishka Shubaly recorded “Thanks For Letting Me Crash” on a four track in his bedroom and began performing live. In the years since, critics have compared him to virtually everyone in the country or indie canons, most notably Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and Nick Cave. But it’s still the fans that matter most to Mishka Shubaly. “Every time I play, somebody comes up to me after the show really wasted, looks deep into my eyes with just incredible sadness, then mumbles something incomprehensible and staggers off. That means more to me than I can say.”

By May, 2003, Mishka had his picture in Fader magazine for being the talent buyer at one of the hottest clubs in NYC where he had booked Liars, Walkmen, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Libertines, Secret Machines, We Are Scientists and virtually all the stars of the rising Brooklyn scene. But that summer he walked away from indie hipster-dom for a Toyota mini-van, and toured almost without break for a year. He has shared the stage with Broken Social Scene, The Decemberists, Metric, Bob Log, Calexico, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, The Dirtbombs, The Bronx, Dan Melchior’s Broke Revue, The High Strung and Jason Bonham. He has appeared on WBAI(NY), Radio 1190(CO) and WOUB(OH). His latest record, “How to Make a Bad Situation Worse,” recorded with producer Jay Braun (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Stills, Fiery Furnaces) was released on Stumptown Records in August, 2007 with a national tour to follow, supported by publicity from In Music We Trust PR.