Shinyribs defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas Blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horn-driven Memphis Soul, country twang, border music, big band swing, and roots-rock. The Austin-based nine-piece (sometimes 10-piece) supergroup is led by Kevin Russell, the charismatic frontman with colorful suits and extravagant shoes who continuously swaps out an electric guitar for a ukulele and never falls short of creating a cinematic experience with on-stage antics that often include him donning a light-up cloak or leading a conga line through the crowd.
Shinyribs’ new record – Transit Damage (July 2023 on Blue Elan / Hardcharger Records) is, in Russell’s words, “the record l’ve been trying to make for most of my career. This is a collection of songs that relate to each other in a myriad of ways: musically, lyrically, emotionally. It’s a real throwback to the era of complete albums, and draws from songs I’ve written throughout my life. I hope listeners can take the time to fully immerse themselves in the whole thing.”
To help him flesh this collection out, Russell picked producer and longtime friend Steve Berlin (from Los Lobos) to help him arrange and record Transit Damage. Together they chose to work at another auspicious location, The Finishing School studios in Austin. The Finishing School is housed in the former home of Austin legend George Reiff (The Chicks, Bruce Robison, Ray Wylie Hubbard) who engineered and produced Shinyribs’ debut Well After Awhile back in 2010. Reiff, a close personal friend of Russell’s, tragically passed away from. cancer in 2017, yet his legacy lives on. His home studio was refurbished by Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist, and reopened a couple years ago with acclaimed engineer Jim Vollentine.
Berlin helped source a number of auxiliary players around town to help expand the Shinyribs sound, and realize Russell’s bigger vision. Shinyribs’ bassist Mason Hankamer also lent some producing skills, helping arrange many of the songs.
Shinyribs was named Best Austin Band at the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Music Awards (2017, 2018), awarded Album of the Year for I Got Your Medicine (2017), and Best 2020-Themed Song for “Stay Home” (2020). Russell’s Shinyribs have recorded six albums: 2010’s Well After Awhile; Gulf Coast Museum (2013); Okra Candy (2015); 2017’s award-winning I Got Your Medicine; a compilation of holiday standards and new compositions The Kringle Tingle (2018); and the group’s latest soulful release, Fog & Bling (2019). Shinyribs latest project, Late Night TV Gold, released in August 2021.
Hillfolk Noir
Built on more than 15 years of tradition, today’s Hillfolk takes their acoustic guitar, double bass, and “anything you can find at a hardware store” sound and integrates driving drums and an electrified sound, kicking down limitations to create a vibe that goes beyond their Americana “junkerdash” roots. Want to call it bluegrass’s trouble-making cousin? Fine by us. A bit of string-band blues? Sure ‘nuff. A concoction of electrified rockin’ soulful folksy witchcraft mayhem? Now you’re talking, mama. The indelible through-line is rooted in the band’s song craftsmanship. From mountains of frontman Travis Ward’s ragged, spiral-bound notebooks comes the hard and tender. They can blow the roof off the place or draw you around the fire with their earnest musical narratives of the back alleys, the open range, and the front porch. They paint with sound the earnest stories about the lives of lovers, law-breakers, and the lion-hearted. Heroes and outcasts alike. Hailing from Boise, Idaho, the always young-at-heart Hillfolk Noir has been carving their own musical path for 15 years. Grab a cup of juice and ease on down to enjoy these newfound Hillfolk vibes. “If John Steinbeck owned a speakeasy,” said John Doe (X, the Knitters), “Hillfolk Noir would be the house band.”
