SHAWN MAFIA & THE 10¢ THRILLS

Shawn Mafia in two words … “singer songwriter.” Shawn Mafia & the 10¢ Thrills in six words … “singer songwriter with hard rocking backing ensemble.” Two plus seven equals nine. Although nine is the German word for “no” it is considered a good number in Chinese culture because it sounds the same as the word “longlasting.” Many eastern religions consider 9 to symbolize completeness and perfection. Mathematically speaking, 100% probability is considered to be impossible in most circumstances and results in infinite probability. Therefore, effectivity of processes and the availability of systems can be expressed as a series of “nines.” For example, “five nines” (99.999%) availability implies a total downtime of no more than five minutes per year – typically a very high degree of reliability. In fact, when you apply this to a live performance situation you are sure to guarantee music audiences more entertainment bang for their buck by booking Shawn Mafia & The 10¢ Thrills!

A human pregnancy normally lasts nine months and in Norse Mythology, the Nordic God Odin hung himself on an ash tree for nine days to learn the runes. Now that’s what I call strong triceps muscles and self discipline! Shawn Mafia & The 10¢ Thrills have strong triceps and the self discipline to show up to gigs on time. Cats are said to have “nine lives” and, in Greek mythology, the nine muses are epic poetry, history, erotic poetry, lyric poetry, tragedy, song, dance, comedy, and astronomy. Shawn Mafia & The 10¢ Thrills bring all these characteristics to their live performance, minus the astronomy perhaps, but we’re working on it! Not to mention, a nine out of ten scale rating is pretty damn good. Do the math. It’s simple. Shawn Mafia & the 10¢ Thrills are the perfect solution to your live music needs.

With the lyrical prowess of Tom Waits and a stage presence somewhere between Dwight Yoakam and Johnny Rotten, Shawn Mafia is the last of a dieing breed of street tough poet song writers and charismatic, off-beat entertainer showman. His musical style could be described “as depression era modern” and “rock noir.” However, Shawn Mafia can move crowds with a down and out ballad or keep the club dance stepping and rubber necking all night with barn burning rock, blues, and rockabilly/country zingers. His comical and character driven monologues, in-between song banter about his day job at a funeral home, spoken word snake oil side show pitches, and man of the midnight bottle confessionals make him a one of a kind entertainment experience. Hunter S. Thompson meets Bruce Springsteen . Warren Zevon meets Johnny Cash. This cat is the total package.

Shawn Mafia is available as a solo intimate act for smaller venue sit down crowds or with his balls out backing band (lead guitar, bass, drums, etc.) for honky-tonks, juke joints, clubs, dive bars, and just about anywhere else you need to rock out with your cock out but still give listeners some songs with artistic substance and gutter soul.

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Spawned from the dark recesses of Southern California’s Mojave desert, Shawn Mafia has been successfully brewing his own bombastic and bamboozling brand of lyrical and musical elixir for years. With a unique and definitive sound, self described as “rock noir” and “depression era modern”, he is one of those rare singer-songwriter/entertainers that completes the total-package-trinity of compelling performer, offbeat composer, and literary lyrical madman. With a short career that has already spanned three albums, most notably his recent release, Dust Bowl Anarchy on Sadistic Trendz Media, Mafia has been described by the Desert Post Weekly as having “the persona of a Carney Barker's bastard preacher son out in front of a sideshow tent! Mafia is on a mission to tell stories you might not want to hear, about people you never wanted to meet." Working as an Undertaker to earn extra blood money to fund his musical endeavors, Shawn Mafia could be literally and figuratively described as having one foot in the grave and the other in the show biz spotlight. Armed with a stripped down, backing ensemble composed of lead guitar, bass, and drums his live performances are a bizarre hybrid of neo-noir theatrics and barn burning foot stompers that captivate and capitulate audiences of all ages. The tall, dark and shadowy figure of Shawn Mafia, with his signature three day stubble and tattered, stingy brimmed fedora, is a throwback to a time when self-styled, street tough rebels were all the rage. In a music industry nullified and negated with safe, sculpted and shallow artists propped up in the sole pursuit of turning a quick buck we are left without any real artists of substance, integrity, and true grit. Perhaps the most we can hope for is an original voice. Waging a one man war with the music industry, Shawn Mafia is that voice.

Shawn Mafia has been Written About/Reviewed in:

The American Free Journal
Desert Post Weekly
OC Weekly
The Sun Runner M