8
Mar/14

VIDEO OF THE DAY: STEAFÁN HANVEY

8
Mar/14

Northern Irish singer-songwriter Steafán Hanvey was born in 1972, right in the midst of the Troubles. Both of his parents were musicians; his father, Bobbie, was a photojournalist and radio host as well. On his second album, last winter’s Nuclear Family, the follow-up to his 2006 debut with his band, the Honeymoon Junkies, Hanvey, “a man whose bad dreams have already come true,” explores the complications of relationships on such songs as “Secrets and Lies,” “Marta’s Always Coming Home,” “Darling Please,” and “Leaving What You Know.” He has combined his past with the present in his deeply personal and political traveling show, “Look Behind You! A Father and Son’s Impressions of the Troubles in Northern Ireland through Photograph and Song,” which is profiled by NPR in the above video. On March 8, Hanvey will be giving a rare solo performance for “Belfast Rocks the Craic” at Mercury Lounge, part of the sixteenth annual Craic Fest; Duke Special and Rams’ Pocket Radio are also on the bill.