‘I still don’t know what to say about it,’ Gavin tells U2.com’s interviewer, then proceeds to talk about his 50th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall for quite a bit:

Question: What have Laurie Anderson, Andrea Corr, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan and Rufus Wainwright got in common with Larry, Bono, Edge and Adam. Answer: They’re all fans of Gavin Friday and they’re all taking part in a one-of-a-kind show in New York next week, set to raise funds to combat AIDS in the poorest countries.

An Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends, on Sunday October 4th at Carnegie Hall in New York, is curated and produced by Hal Willner, someone with an unrivalled track record in one-off musical events inspired by maverick artists from Leonard Cohen to Kurt Weill, Tim Buckley to Thelonius Monk.

Gavin, of course, has been hanging out with the members of U2 since before they were the members of U2 and is invariably to be found with them in the studio when an album needs to be finished… or out on the road, when a tour is about to kick off. Right now, he’s working on songs for his own next solo album due in 2010. We caught up with him in Dublin to find out more about the Carnegie Hall show:

“Believe it or not, this was not born in my head. I think I was on some kind of TV show, maybe 12 years ago, and I was asked about my musical ambition and I said I’d love to play Carnegie Hall before I’m 50. That was the seed of all this. Then earlier this year a gang of us went away for a day to celebrate the 50th birthday of Guggi and at the party, Bono, who turns 50 himself next May, said to me, ‘Do you know what you’re doing for your fiftieth ?’ I said I didn’t have a clue and that I’ll probably run away to avoid the attention. He said he did know what I was doing, that I was playing Carnegie Hall.”

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Gavin has contributed to a charity single, “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew” in honour of The Dubliner’s singer Ronnie Drew. The proceeds will benefit the Irish Cancer Society at Ronnie Drew’s request. The track will be available in Ireland only as a download on Friday, February 22 and week later on CD.

The song was written by Bono, The Edge, Simon Carmody and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and features appearances by Kila, the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, the Frames’ Glen Hansard, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Keating, Chris de Burgh, members of the Dubliners, and Gavin Friday.

Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer, Dave-id, Guggi, Bono and Andrea Corr and a full ensemble have been working with producer Hal Willner in a Dublin studio this past week. The impromptu ensemble came together to record songs for a tribute album of ‘chantey and seamen’s work songs’.

Gavin and Andrea Corr took part in the 2003 Cow Parade event, a sponsored public art exhibition for charity.

They painted a ‘NO’ themed cow (‘anti drugs, anti violence, safe sex’) with help from the girls from The Sheriff Street After Hours School Education Project. The sponsors’ money will go towards the Sheriff Street Project.

Between 100 and 150 cows were be placed on the streets of Dublin from June to September 2003. Then the cows were auctioned in aid of The Dublin Simon Community and The Jack and Jill Trust.

RTE reports on the unveiling of the ‘No Cow’:

“Andrea Corr and Gavin Friday have unveiled a special cow for Cow Parade, made with the help of children from Sheriff Street.
The No Cow was created by Corr, Friday, design artist Ciaran Crowley and teenagers from the Sheriff Street After Schools Educational Project.

The cow is made up of a variety of symbols which say no to drink, drugs and violence.
Corr and Friday have been working with the Educational Project for the last two years, using the language of music and art to help educate and develop teenagers in the area.
The No Cow is part of Cow Parade Ireland and will join the many other colourfully decorated cows on the streets of Dublin. ”