Shinyribs defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas Blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horndriven 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 I’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.”

Too grassy for the honky tonks and too amplified for the traditional stages, Texas String Assembly has carved out their own niche in Austin’s favorite rock ‘n’ roll clubs. Since forming in 2020, the 7-piece band of five to ten men has blended elements of bluegrass, funk, jazz, folk-country, and hippie jugband music, growing from backyards to bars to beloved venues as they cultivated their “mostly acoustic” Americana sound and garnered attention for their electrifying live performances.