ONE Night in Dublin will come to Middlesbrough when The Wild Murphys will set up Murphy’s Pub at The Palace Theatre on Friday, July 26. Part of a major UK tour, the Middlesbrough stop-off is especially meaningful to The Wild Murphys, who hail from Darlington.

The multi-award-winning Irish band includes the very best traditional Irish musicians playing a mix of traditional and contemporary tunes guaranteed to have the audience’s hands clapping and toes tapping all night long.

The seven-piece live band is headed by lead singer Middi Murphy armed with blarney, banter and an accordion, alongside Trevor Brewis on drums, Tony Davis on keys and the BBC award-winning fiddle player Sophy Ball on fiddle.

In their own style, The Wild Murphys celebrate Irish classics with tracks including: Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, Brown Eyed Girl, Seven Drunken Nights, Sally MacLennane, When You Were Sweet Sixteen, Whiskey in the Jar, Wild Rover and Molly Malone, to name just a few.

Darlington’s Middi Murphy said: “I grew up with Irish music, my dad loved it and played it all day long! He used to go over to Ireland a lot to see the bands and then when the bands came over to the UK he’d sneak me into the clubs to see them.

“I’ve always sung and played Irish music and songs, It’s one of the few things I’m quite good at in life! I spent years playing in the Irish theme pubs all over Europe and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, there’s something so ‘all-encompassing’ about this music – it doesn’t matter where you’re from or how old you are, it’s music anyone can enjoy”.

We pull up a stool in Murphy’s Pub to talk Irish Music with The Wild Murphys founder Middi Murphy

Tell us a little about One Night in Dublin and what audiences can expect.

It’s a fun night filled with great Irish music; we’ve some top-notch musicians (and me!) and we love what we do, which is play Irish songs in our own inimitable Wild Murphys style! We love putting our spin on songs that people know and love and giving them a different version to hear and sing along to. If you’ve ever been on a holiday abroad and walked past an Irish pub, heard the music and thought “I must go in there” then that’s what we’re all about!

What have been the highlights for The Wild Murphys over the years you have been on the road?

WE could write a book, in fact I should! I think I’d call it “101 uses for a Travelodge kettle”!

It’s been such an amazing journey and every time you think you’ve seen it all, something else comes along that surprises you. The six years I played at Molly Malones on the Greek island of Zante will always be a special time in my life. We’ve done opening sets for some great Irish acts and we’ve had some great acts open for us.

I think though, my biggest highlight is still to come - I’ve always loved theatres, not just the shows in them but the buildings themselves and their history so to go and stand on some of those stages where so many amazing people have made their mark and to see the other side of the curtain is just going to be a dream come true.

Who is your favourite artist and why?

It’s hard to pick one single artist as I love certain aspects of so many bands and singers.

I’ll always have a big soft spot for Brendan Shine because he was my dad’s favourite and there are so many memories wrapped up in his music. I like some of the new guys who keep the old tradition of the ‘dance band’ but do it in their own way like Nathan Carter and Derek Ryan but I guess if I could only take one album on the road with me I’d be torn between ‘Floggin’ Molly - Live at the Greek’ and ‘The Saw Doctors - If this is rock and roll I want my old job back’.

onenightindublin.com. Thursday, July 18, at 7.30pm. Book at middlesbroughtheatre.co.uk.