The lead vocalist for the Dropkick Murphys is supporting City Councillor At-Large Michael Flaherty for mayor, he said Thursday.

Flaherty is a "hell of a guy, hell of a politician,” said Ken Casey, bass guitarist and lead vocalist for the group.

He added, in a release circulated by the Flaherty campaign: “As an artist, I fully support Michael Flaherty’s plan to stimulate the city’s creative economy.” That plan includes the creation of a “cabinet level position for culture,” artist workshops and requiring one percent of construction costs for city-funded development projects to be set aside for public art works.

(Casey lives in Hingham, according to campaign finance records. He and his wife have contributed to Flaherty in the past, with $500 each in June 2008. He also donated to incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino a month later.)

Casey called this morning into the “My Song is Better than Your Song” contest between Flaherty and fellow mayoral contender Sam Yoon on WFNX radio, where he voiced support for Flaherty and took some shots at Menino.

Both Yoon and Flaherty picked the same song: “Shipping Up to Boston” by… yeah, the Dropkick Murphys. The picks are made in advance, and Yoon, who has been on a five-week winning streak with the contest, said he chose the song because it was in one of Flaherty’s YouTube videos, setting up Flaherty supporters to vote against the band.

The Phoenix’s Carly Carioli writes up the results: “Drawing record-setting turnout, WFNX reported that phone votes were a dead heat, but Yoon pulled away by a three-to-one margin in on-line and instant-message voting -- even though Dropkick Murphys founder KEN CASEY personally called in to register his endorsement of Flaherty and cast a vote. (As the Sandbox pointed out, this also was the first time an artist has called the station to vote for his own song.)”

Video is also included at the link. The Phoenix’s David Bernstein bangs his head against the wall over the incident. The Herald’s Hotline blog also wrote it up.

Full release on Casey from the Flaherty camp below.

DROPKICK MURPHY’S STAR SUPPORTS FLAHERTY FOR MAYOR

Lead Vocalist Ken Casey Cites Plan To Support
For Arts Through “Creative Economy” Agenda

Ken Casey, the lead vocalist for Boston musical sensations the Dropkick Murphy’s, threw his support behind Michael Flaherty’s campaign for Mayor of Boston. The singing star made the announcement after a joint appearance with Flaherty on WFNX radio’s “My Song Is Better Than Your Song” contest. Flaherty and Casey were promoting the Dropkick Murphy hit “Ship It Up To Boston.”

“One of the goals of the Dropkick Murphy’s is to bring people together and that is what Michael Flaherty will do as the next Mayor of Boston”, said Casey. Casey further explained that “Michael Flaherty shares the core values of the Dropkick Murphy’s: working class solidarity, friendship, loyalty and self- improvement as a means to bettering society.”

“As an artist, I fully support Michael Flaherty’s plan to stimulate the city’s creative economy,” said Casey. Flaherty recently released a ten-point plan to bolster the city’s commitment to growing its arts sectors and supporting its local artists and small arts-related businesses. According to Flaherty, “Boston is losing our artists and members of our commercial gallery sector to other cities and we need to use their talents and contributions to revitalize our neighborhoods and refuel our local economy.”

Also appearing on the same radio show along with Flaherty was fellow mayoral candidate Sam Yoon. Yoon was promoting the same song as Flaherty. “Sam and I agree, ‘Ship It Up To Boston’ is a great song and that Boston needs a new mayor,” said Flaherty.

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