Ribcast: The Shinyribs Podcast

This is true we’re coming up south from Tejas Ain’t nothing finer than RIBS, in CarolinaStart a week from todayApril 23–new orleans Jazz festApril 25– the Ouachita River Fest in West Monroe, LouisianaApril 26 – Radio room in Greenville, South CarolinaApril 27, a private event in South South CarolinaApril 28–the POUR house in Charleston, South CarolinaApril 30– the barrel house in Chattanooga, TennesseeMay 1 – the neighborhood theater in Charlotte, North CarolinaAnd May 2 in Duluth, Georgia near Atlanta at the red Clay Theatre This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.And IOS users join my East Texas Rust Radio in the Playola App Playola Code This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

THis has become an all time favorite for the band to play. It has the gospel gravy and the country lazy thang. Plus it is autobiographical! Everytime I sing it I am taken back to my childhood on that green and blue shag carpet dancing to records and singing along, the dreams of ya boy done come true, y'all. Hallelujah these are the days! One of these days  Words & Music- Kevin Russell One of these days, one of these days I want a magnavox console record player  One of these days, One of these days I wanna record player long as a coffin Deep as thunder and dark as cherrywood   Then I’ll be dancing like a bird taking a bath One of these days one of these days One of these days, one of these days I’ll spin the Jackson 5 spirit in the sky One of these days, one of one of these days Music flowing right through everybody That's the times i remember most  Dreaming of making music with my friends It has a way of getting in ya bones One of these days, one of these days Make some music the way it feels in my bones This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Top got stomp I originally wrote with the intention that it would explain what kind of music I play. I think I got it pretty accurate especially at the time I wrote it. Which I can’t remember when I wrote it to be honest. That could’ve been a good song, of course, but I just kept it around. It’s become a staple of my live shows with Shinyribs. It might be the ultimate all-purpose Shinyribs live song. This is right before Kellee left for her theater tour. But she will be back mid March and we look forward to having her with us for the rest of the year. It’s gonna be great.Drums Keith LangfordBass Mason HankamerKeyboards Jonny KeysElectric guitar Jes CliffordVocals Schaefer LlanaVocals Kellee Broadway Audio Recorded and Mixed by Mark Creaney Video- Seth Celdrán TUBGUT STOMP & RED EYED SOUL It rained this morning, didn’t ya hear I lost all my rubies down at the steamy bowl It was the tubgut stomp and the red eyed soul I showed my ass last night didn’t ya hear I hammered the sickle and the Jimbo stew Oh baby “who stocked the bar with the freak-out juice” tub gut stomp and red eyed soul Ya wake up with it you dumb and dull You wonder how it came to this drinkin’ like a chimney, smokin’ like a fish It rained this morning, didn’t ya hear I lost all my rubies down at the steamy bowl It was the tubgut stomp and the red eyed soul Let me see if your face is wet I inhaled the poison and got a voltage drop I woke up sleepin in a surgeon’s knot Rooster lost his head now didn’t ya hear We doused him with water and rolled him on the ground Lord, he once was a verb but now he’s just a noun. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

In my first Substack live stream I began by talking about Michael Jackson’s album thriller, and the song that actually starts it, though I didn’t know it at the time I have sent looked it up and seeing that wanna be starting something begins the thriller album. Which I think adds credence to my theory that “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” was left over from Off The Wall. It just feels and sounds that way. It’s so different than everything else on the Thriller album. The Thriller album that was maybe the biggest selling album of all time when it was released and maybe it still is the biggest selling album of all time? I don’t know. I’m not gonna look that up. Cause I don’t really care what the biggest selling album of all time is ladies and gentlemen. Sales popularity, any of that never meant shit to me. I am all about the art, the feeling, the sound, arrangements, the poetry of the gift, the blessing, the miracle that is song. That’s all I really care about. I’ve always known what I’ve liked when I liked it. There’s an old trope that says “people like what they know, but they don’t know what they like”’and I have found that to mostly be true. Present company excluded of course, thank you for being here. Thriller may well be the greatest selling album of all time I don’t know. But it’s not my favorite Michael Jackson album. Off The Wall is 30 times better than Thriller. I pulled that number out of my ass. Just like a lot of Thriller feels like Michael Jackson pulled it out of his ass… I kid I kid. But Wanna Be Stettin’ Something” is by far the best song on Thriller. Beat It is cool. It was exciting when it came out because it had Eddie Van Halen playing the solo. It was a melding of rock, R&B and soul at that time. Which was very progressive and I dug it. Billie Jean,and maybe I’ll eat my I’ll eat my words now, is great. But actually it is not a great song as much as it is a great performance of not a very good song. Though to completely undermine my point of this whole diatribe, Wanna Be Startin’ Something is also not a great song. But a great performance. Thriller to me is a genius work of production and arrangement by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. The material they had to work with is not great. My thinking on this is because Michael Jackson was already a huge star, touring constantly and probably had very little bandwidth, energy or time to write great music and to sit in a studio recording for an extended period of time. This is probably a challenge that any major popstar has. I know in my life, my general musical career, which is very obscure relative to Michael Jackson, even in my musical life, I have very little time, bandwidth or energy to make records. Even though that’s my favorite thing in the world to do is to make recordings of my songs with musicians, there’s very little time and these days and very little money for that endeavor. We spend 90% of our time playing live shows. Which I love live shows too, but I wish I had a better balance between live shows and recording. Like I wish I could release two albums per year and play fewer shows. People often ask me how many shows I play per year and I really have no idea. I’ve never counted them. Anyway I’m gonna post Wanna Be Startin’ Something” here now and then I’m gonna post a song from off the wall. Post your favorite Michael Jackson songs if you can or if you know how lol This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

My first who Husker Du cassettes were bought by my mother for my 17th birthday from my friend Dan Nugent at Sooto records In Shreveport, La.But this was the Sooto records that was on Mansfield Road. It wasn’t the one everybody thinks of on Kings Highway. There was a short period of time when owner, Steve Timmons opened a store in Southern Hills. And that’s the store I wandered into looking for a psychedelic band called Rain Parade. Dan didn’t have a copy, but he gave me his personal copy and said he would just order himself a new one. And from that point on I just hung out there, all the time for hours listening to records, as Dan and held court talking shit. It was awesome. It was like cheers a little bit. In fact I could write a treatment for a sitcom based on that story. Anyway, Yes, my mom bought me Zen arcade and new day rising on cassette from dan for my 17th birthday. And from the get-go as I said, I just wasn’t prepared for what I was gonna hear. Also the stereo in my car was kind of crappy. I didn’t have the speakers mounted properly. I just stuck them in Nike shoe boxes and put them in the back window and ran the cables under the seat hooked it up that way. Beaumont ingenuity, baby! I learned from the best. Over the years I have covered, “I’m never talking to you again” off of zen arcade, which I would recommend listening. Though It sounds nothing like any other Husker Du song ever recorded, but it is great. And most recently I covered pink turns to blue the Grant Hart song off of zen arcade as well on my transit damage album. we did a total rearrangement of that song. You should listen to them both back to back and you’ll hear how much. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

U r my moonshine my only moonshine You make me mournful when skies are gay But for my loathing you shall not owe me Please don’t give my moonshine away. The other morning as you were waking You said you’d had an awful dream That I was sober as a judge and you took away my tambourine U r my moonshine my only moonshine You make me mournful when skies are gay But for my loathing you shall not owe me Please don’t give my moonshine away. Just the other day dear I heard you mention non- chalantly in humorous repose We shouldn’t be doing what we deal God only knows where it goes U r my moonshine my only moonshine You make me mournful when skies are gay But for my loathing you shall not owe me Please don’t give my moonshine away. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in December 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée, a union opposed by the government, the Church of England, and the public due to her status as a twice-divorced woman. Facing immense pressure, he chose love over the crown, famously announcing his decision in a radio address and paving the way for his brother, Albert, to become King George VI. The abdication, formalized by Parliament, made him the only British monarch to voluntarily resign the throne.Key events and reasons for abdication:* The relationship:Edward VIII’s desire to marry Wallis Simpson, who was divorcing her second husband, was the central cause.* Constitutional crisis:The British government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, opposed the marriage, as it was seen as unacceptable for the King, as head of the Church of England, to marry a woman with two living ex-husbands.* Public and church opposition:The Church of England and the British public largely condemned the match, creating an insurmountable obstacle.* The choice:Edward was unwilling to give up Wallis Simpson, leading him to choose to abdicate rather than renounce her.Aftermath:* Abdication speech:On December 11, 1936, Edward gave a famous radio address to the nation, stating he could not carry the “heavy burden of responsibility” without the support of the woman he loved.* Succession:His younger brother, Albert, became King George VI, with his wife Elizabeth as Queen.* New title:Edward was given the title Duke of Windsor, and he married Wallis Simpson in 1937.Lyrics- LOVE ALONE I know King Edward was noble and greatBut It’s love what caused him to abdicate.I know my mama she gonna grieveHe said “I cannot help it but I’m bound to leave.”And he got the money and he got the talkAnd the fancy walk just to suit New York.You can take me throne, you can take me crown,But leave me Miss SDimpson to renown.Come a reel come a roll upon my mindI cannot leave Mrs. Simpson behindIf a plane and a ship don’t carry me freeI’ll walk with Miss Simpson across the sea.On the tenth of December you heard the talkWhen he gave the throne to the Duke of York.Now he’s the victim of circumstanceNow they live in the south of France.If you see Mrs. Simpson across the streetYou can guarantee she is a busy bee.Let the organ roll, let the church bell ringHe said, “Good luck” to our second bachelor King.Wiki on Alphonso “blind Blake” Higgs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Alphonso_Higgs This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Well there is actually another version of this I posted on here in Aug of 2024. But, this version feels for authentic to me. Sometimes songs get stuck in boxes under the bed too. Imagine my surprise when I found this song again, preserved on a performance video no less. Written on the tiple it has that slightly janky, out-of-tuneness that I associate with old field recordings and early country music. The lyric is pretty spot on too for the secular gospel threading of the needle. I do love it when I can lay a song right in the middle of gospel and gravy, half faith and half crazy, leaning in but lazy, a half-baked hazy halo sayin’ hello and good-bye, hittin the nail on a nice try-it’s long past time to get back to loving thy neighbors again, doin unto others we’d have them do unto and then some. A spiritual Dim Sum, something for everybody Lyrics-Wisteria vineCan’t u hear them pretty bells a ringinFrom the chapel through the empty squareThey are ringing for the righteous the loyal and the justBut their ain’t nobody thereOnce there was pity for the beggarSympathy for the losers and the poorOnce there was dignity shared among allBut there ain’t nothing like it anymoreOne day I hope we find the wayAnd this ship one again will be steeredBy the honest, the humble, the virtuous and kindSweet as a wisteria vineThe mystery pressed between your hand and mineSweet as a wisteria vineBonus- an omitted verse “wisteria’s waftwant for what we won’t want when we want for what we don’t know what we needLove lays under greedDoes the best she canWith what is left of herDarkness hanging over the land” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

It just ain’t Christmas until the Donn’s Depot family decorates the bar with festive luminosity. This is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs I learned via The Staple Singers. I’ve done it for years every Christmas time. To capture it in such a beautiful way, Jeremy Sexton, the official music video director for Shinyribs brought it to life in a simple, timeless way that I’ll always enjoy. A jumbo Crimbo yaya to all of you. Thanks for being here with me on this journey. I can’t imagine better fans than you all This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Jay Stiles played with us for a while after the departure of Winfield Cheek. I count Jay among my favorite Canadians. Up there with Vancouver Val, BTO, and Neil Young. This is an unrecorded Christmas song I’ve always thought might make Kringle Tingle 2. The name Meredith I got from a local promoter in central texas who I had some correspondence with around Christmas time. The song has nothing to do with her. But the Merry Christmas, Meredith alliteration led to this whole song. Jay dropped by I think to deliver some maple syrup and I recruited him to record this with me. What do you think, should I make a Kringle Tingle 2: The Spruce Is Loose? And should this song be on it? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

One of my favorite memories is recording this Christmas classic with my dad and Mason and Mama Ribs in the green room of The Kessler Theater in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood in what must’ve been 2021. I will revisit it every year from now on. And will always be grateful to Mason for helping me get through it. Because it’s not an easy song, at least for me, it’s not. I mean Joe had it down, but I was doing my best to play some of these chords while also working the audio and video. It was long after Joe was diagnosed with cancer and began a long battle that eventually took his life in April of 2023. Since then it’s frankly been a long road for our family in our grieving journey. I know many of you understand what this is like. We will all be together again this year as the fates allow and we will do our best to hang our collective star upon the highest bough. My deepest gratitude and best wishes for holiday cheer to all of you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

OK, I gotta give credit to an old friend Jeff Boxschmidt who sang it at an annual Xmas recording party hosted by the long time Sound Engineer for the Gourds a guy named Jim Archuleta, also known as Rche. He used to have these parties at his house with all of his buddies and us and we would just have a big party and he’d make beans and or chili or something like that. We’d spend all night drinking partying and recording Christmas songs. As I remember, there are some real gems on some of those CDs, which I have somewhere. I need to find them. Or, Rche if you are reading this, maybe you have them on a SoundCloud or something somewhere where we can hear them. Particularly I remember one song being genius that Claude Bernard the accordion player for the Gourds seemed to do off the cuff, just made it up. Anyway, I digress. Here is my version of Xmas on the Isthmus done in my studio I’m guessing 2021 maybe. For a live stream maybe it was, the Christmas rib fry? Of which I don’t think I’m gonna be able to pull that off this year. I wanted to, but maybe I’ll do a best of Christmas ribfry. I could probably edit something together for that and throw a couple of new things in there. Anyway, I’m gonna be sharing Christmas songs here in this Substack world up until Christmas. They’ll be other things but mostly this time of year is for recollecting reminiscing and getting good and buzzed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

First draft demo for One Of These Days song off of Leaving Time This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

I don’t like laying in bed so long listening to your morning slog I’m getting up and go outside take a walk on the beach in the fog If you don’t mind, I’m walking the beach alone. It reminds me so much of home your tone last night wasn’t clear in spite of all your agreeability to sleep on it then you left me here In a low-lying dense advisory If you don’t mind, I’ll say all that I have to say once the fog has burned from Matagorda Bay This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This song hospital again is my new favorite song. This often happens where I write a song and then just keep thinking about it and keep playing it and it just becomes the favorite. That's kind of how I choose songs that I want to record, is I just like the song, I like things about a chord progression, lyrics, hook, the vibe or the feel, lotta different elements can come together to give me that feeling about a song. This one I recorded with the band in Muscle Shoals. You may remember when we stopped in there on our day off to record with my friend, Jimmy Nutt at his Nutthouse Studio. Well, that was a learning experience more than anything. We just sort of played around with the song and the arrangement. A lot of great ideas that came out of that. Unfortunately, that is not the definitive recording. I have some real issues with some of our performance and the arrangement choices. The groove, the feel wasn't really what I had in mind after listening to the demo and listening to our recording. So, I just decided we needed to do some more work on the song and record it again. That's how it goes, sometimes you record a song and are happy, then listen to it later and you think what the hell was I thinking? The OG Drinkin Night was like that. Somewhere we have a hopped up version that has more of a place on a Jerry Jeff Live record than anything on Leaving Time. The bullet ya gotta bite is tough sometimes. But, it is always wort5h going back and making it more like you want it to be. That could mean bummin the band out if they were happy with it. It means spending more time and money on recording it when the value of recorded music is somewhere down there with landlines and mood rings. FInally last night we got the core band together me, Jes, Mason and Keith on a rainy night, I might add. We worked that one into something we all felt good about. In addition we worked up another kinda country rocker, Arkansas Mud that is our first “Guitarmony” song with Jes and me. Pretty damn cool once we figured out the groove, i’ll share that one, later. WIth these two songs I believe I have enough for a new record to release this fall. But I will have to sit and listen to everything to ascertain such. Maybe we’ll have listening party on line and y’all can help me decide if I have a good record? Anyway here is a live, warts and all recording of our rehearsal of Hospital Again. This is loosely based on some personal experiences over recent years with friends and family in and out of hospitals. The opening lines “He’s in the hospital again, thanks for letting me know. This is the time of life when people start to go” is about as true of a line as i’ve written recently. It says a lot without saying much. A universal understanding I think many of us are familiar withLYRICS- He’s in the hospital again Thanks for letting me know this the time of life when people start to go wherever that is I’m sure it’s fine And the Ever after is better than it’s ever been It’s sink or swim It’s your deal Being how you are I how you feel Cause I have stood right there in your place with the same blank expression pressed upon my face He’s in Hospital Again This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Theory Of Entanglement vs Disenchantment A particle with zero spin can decay into two particles with opposite spin A thing that wants to be is at a disadvantage To a thing that’s already been Cables in a bag snarl Laces move in different directions As if unseen hands unbridled In between from end to end A carcass decomposed Beneath the leaves Below the limbs Begins again We follow it Until the end The way it was explained is You can’t land on the moon without killing a dream Let it unwind Then reel it in Give it some slack Then do it again Hit the skids Come apart at the seams It is what it is In spite of what you’ve seen We didn’t land on the moon Without killing the dream It is what it is In spite of what it seems Don’t be so disappointed It’s gotta be this way Let it unwind Then reel it in Give it some slack Then do it again You can’t land on the moon without killing a dream This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome all you wascalwee wibs fans you’ve been brought here through a portal from an egregiously evil social media empire. You’ve reached a safe place. Where only things pertaining to RIBS, have any meaning and for that you’ll be handsomely rewarded. That’s a promise from me, Mr. RIBS,. Seriously thanks for coming here. Thanks for being here. I hope you enjoy it and engage with me and the many things I share. I’m always available. Holler at anytime let’s be friends. RUGGED ROSES Tell me with yer eyes In silence let them ring The precious humming of our hearts In silence let them sing May our phantoms find there places Where ever that may be Let only the sound of love dear echo endlessly For you for me I won’t wait a week and pine for a love that isn’t there We will watch the river flow past pretty flowers growing there And the gravity and spin will pass by freely in the wind To find us quiet in the sunset two old rugged roses Planted firmly by the riverbed Let the tender petals fall Like yer long cascading hair Let the volume of yer moans Deny no passion in the air And from the center of my bones I’ll kiss often and with care But not every kiss is always placed so keenly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Just a quick update and let y’all know how the tour goes and share some other fun things with you like recording a new song in Muscle Shoals. I actually recorded this couple days ago before I really got sick. Full head cold did a couple of shows with a cold and then lost my voice this morning so I had to cancel the Charleston show. Total bummer. But you know I gotta do what I gotta do. My priority of course is The festival is this weekend in Raleigh and of course Albino Skunk. As I write this I am still badly congested in my head. But my voice feels like it’s getting a little better. Like better than it’s been all day. So here is hoping I can get through the next few shows and get home and get well wish me luck mofos.Oh yes, Denise was at our Decatur Georgia show for her birthday and I was just clinging to my last bit of energy to get through that show, two shows I had to do there.But it was lovely to see her and I’m so glad she got to see Bobby Boudin. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

See my post earlier this week for the whole storyhttps://open.substack.com/pub/shinyribs/p/i-left-my-backpack-in-san-marcos?r=1on8q9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is a little song I wrote quite a while ago, maybe pre-Covid. I can’t remember, but I’ve always loved it. It’s been around in my demo pile for a while. It’s another one in addition to Sundown On Mars that my good friend and Artist-In-Residence at Shinyribs Ashton Guy has always loved. So she is really happy to know that I have finally recorded this for an official release at some point. I don’t know when I’ll release this. I am working on a record right now, we are very close to completing it and setting that ball in motion, hopefully to get it out next year. I’m gonna try and put out at least one record a year if I can from this point on. I’ve got so many songs that that’s the pace I’m gonna have to work at if I’m gonna get them all recorded and put out before I die. Lol.I roll joints pretty bad. I wanted to illustrate that to everyone. I can write a song, I can sing, I can dance and I am amazingly charming. But, I cannot roll a joint to save my life. Of course, why would you roll a joint to save your life? AnyWho, I mentioned Tom Ables in this video as always giving me shit about rolling pregnant joints. That is when I lived over on West Annie Street in Austin in the early days, early 90s pre-Gourds, Post-Coyotes. I lived there with my good buddy Jimmy Smith at first and then he left town, went to East Texas for a while. So an old Shreveport friend of ours Merrit Manos moved in with me. And it was really one of the greatest couple of years of my life there where I had no Money but rent was so cheap and split two ways. It was really dirt cheap. So it was easy to live the lifestyle that I wanted. I picked up odd jobs during this time bookstore jobs dishwashing jobs, etc. I had no car, I had no bicycle…well actually I did have a bicycle, but not a good one. We had one window unit in one room of the house. In the summer it was very hot in there. What was weird, I had a ceiling fan and I just slept naked under it. Worked great. Really I feel like my health improved during this time.. Definitely my allergies all went away when I quit using or living in central air. And I think I will go on record here saying I think that’s something that anyone with allergies should consider, is getting out of central air and live in natural air for a while. Sweat a lot. Suffice it to say we did spend a lot of time in the back room there listening to music sitting in the Wonderful cool air of our window unit, smoking a lot of weed. It was a group of us, me, Merrit and two dear friends, Claude Bernard‘s brother John Bernard, who we all called “John A” and my good buddy Victor Hernandez the four of us were inseparable for a good two years. I’ll always look back fondly on those years with those folks good friends, all of them still. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Sitting here having the morning coffee, listening to the Crow yell at the other birds finally, I hear a cardinal tripping the distance. Our backyard normally teaming with songbirds I hear nothing but the war of wheels on pavement and a single crow being a total shit head to the other birds.. Is the coolest morning of the summer so I’m sitting outside, which I have it done in the morning since June probably. Though it’s been a mild summer I haven’t really been here through much of it, off and on here and there.I had a really good time last night making this video and another one. I hope it comes through how excited I am about music and what is to come in the next year with this band. I think maybe I started talking to y’all about a natural malaise that sometimes creeps into ones life and/or career. For me it’s a natural 10 to 12 year cycle, wherein I reflect on what I’ve done how it may or may not have hit the mark of my intentions, while at the same time ring in my hands and pointlessly worrying about what comes next and how that might affect all the people around me that I love. I often return to a lyric by Vic Chestnut, one of my greatest songwriting inspirations and influences. I especially love his first two records, Little and West Of Rome, respectively. There is a song off of West Of Rome, called Florida, “ Sometimes a man must make unpopular decisions, hit that nail on the head“And as the owner of my own business, I have to pay the cost to be the boss, as my good friend Winfield Cheek would’ve said. Letting Winfield go was one of the hardest things i’ve done as the boss of the Shinyribs. Because I felt responsible for him. I knew there were very few options for him in the world at that point. I gave him a sizable amount of money as thanks and so as not to leave him high & dry. I encouraged him strongly to move back home closer to family, which he did not do. I saw his future with his health issues and a struggle for gainful employment. So I put myself in his shoes and I told him what I would do if I were him, I would move closer to family where people loved me and would take care of me if I need needed it. Winfield was understandably unhappy with me for a year. I suppose it was around Christmas of the following year after I let him go that he called me and said he forgave me for firing him. Which I thought was very brave and honest of him. I was moved and I was grateful that we were still friends. The decision I made was primarily based on my Music product that I was putting on the stage each night. His health and mental state were just not up to the rigors and beat down of touring as an independent band. I mean it is a strenuous thankless exhausting endeavor for the young and the healthy. When you get guys up in their 50s and 60s, it gets really tough because natural aging just starts changing our bodies and makes us less resilient. Musicians at the end of their life have a hard row/road to hoe. And that’s why I do support organizations like H. O. M. E. Or housing opportunities for musicians and entertainers. Marcia Ball started this organization for Miss Lavelle, one of our most cherished and beloved local singers. She was a diva before they even had the word diva. A true queen of soul, Austin’s queen of soul. H. O. M. E Helped Winfield considerably as did HAAM health alliance for Austin musicians. Choppy and Tiger too really went above and beyond to help Win out. I don’t know how grateful Winfield was for that. But as I said, he was not of sound mind and body, and he only got worse as time went on. I say all this to couch a bit the changes that are taking place within the band these days. I’m used to it now. One thing is for sure, change is certain, it’s going to happen so you might as well just roll with it baby. I’ve learned at this point in my career what I wish I’d known early on is that one can always strive for excellence artistically while also treating people with dignity and respect. Sometimes relationships just reach their natural termination point. Looking back I can feel and see where I should have ended certain relationships. But I lingered and I worried, I was indecisive. Even though I didn’t have to be indecisive. I just didn’t want to hurt anyone. And I didn’t want to hurt myself or my family economically. I see there were other forces at work at that time in my life. But what I know now is that I had already made the decision in my heart. It was just my brain that made me doubt that decision. Whereas now I don’t have as much time. None of us do. I don’t have time to sit around and worry about who I’m gonna make boo-hoo. I’m not here to coddle and calm others. Though I am always respectful and considerate. My chief responsibility is to myself and my artistic vision, to follow my muse. This is why I’m here. I will never throw anyone under a bus, but I will buy him a ticket back home. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Written by Wim Venema From The Lazy Sunday Dream album MidslandWhere have you been she screams in his faceHolding her breath and then holding her paceHoney I know that look in your eyeYou better make up some damn good liesHoney I had to work till lateHey don't make me laugh it's a quarter past eightBaby you haven't been sleeping home tonightYou better make sure your alibi´s rightAnd the married man, he goes out every nightIt's a pity she knows how much he liesHe's got two kids, a dog and a wifeA family man needs a family lifeMarried man he get´s fat and baldHe needs a proof he ain't grown too oldfor the beautiful ladiesThe married man don´t love her no moreHer place in his heart resembles a soreBut a divorce aint good for the kidsSo he decided to keep it all hidLike most of the men of his age he wondersHow to get out of the burden he´s underHe needs a girl to fit the dressHe bought for his wife, in ´65And the married man died a long long time agoWhen he said yes he should have said noBought himself a big fat CadillacWith two fine girls sitting in the backMake a big crash against a treeAnd all of the girls go shoutingWe never gonna get married This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

The story of how I became a waver and how that led to me being moderately disappointed by a total stranger in Challis, ID This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Y’all might remember 2020 a novel virus had been unleashed on the world, shutting down civilization as we know it. We were all locked away in our homes twiddling our thumbs watching live streams and lots of Netflix. well almost everyone I knew was focused on Tiger King. Remember that? Ha ha well, while my friends were watching Tiger King. I was in my studio creating things that would bring me joy. One of my favorite things at the time was to share my recorded output with my good old friend Mike Stewart, former Gourds producer, manager, Shinyribs bassist, percussionist and all around Buddy for many years whom I like to call StewBall. This nickname after the old folk song about stew Ball the racehorse. I think I learned that from Peter, paul and Mary originally. Unfortunately, Peter Yarrow turned out to be a real POS. And for the life of me, I’ll never understand why Jimmy Carter pardoned him in his last day in office. But I digress, we’re talking about StewBall Mike Stewart, and his fun time getting to remix my late night TV gold stuff. Some of which I’ll play for you at some point. This time also he had sent me remixes of older Shinyribs stuff as an experiment we were thinking about going forward with. It died on the vine so to speak. I do love the idea of remixing old songs, but without them being on a Time grid which is locked into a drum machine basically it is very hard to remix with any precision. Because the timing is human,Fallible, not perfect, natural you might say. And most music these days is locked in to a time grid. it’s perfect. It’s not human. It’s not natural and yet in my opinion still fallible. I think to some degree when people bemoan the homogeneity of today’s pop music it is this element of being in perfect time that exacerbates the experience of listening to perfectly boring music. Not all of it is boring, of course, and if I mention Peter, I must mention What’s his ass. The dude who married Kim Kardashian… Yeezy Yagi Yaga what’s his nickname Kanye Kanye Twitty that’s it. Anyway yeah his early 2000’s output is some of the best of this genre. What I call computer music. I don’t know that anyone’s been as creative as him since. He kind of defined the genre in my opinion like the Eddie Van Halen of artificial music. It’s fun stuff. It’s ear candy. It’s very creative, full of layers, and worth listening to absolutely if you never have. Anyway, this is sort of the idea of me and Mike had is take my music and remix it just see what would happen. We were just sitting around not watching Tiger King so what else were we gonna do? This song is from that time. Early 2020 maybe summer of 2020 I can’t remember exactly. I do have a dropbox folder filled with this kind of stuff that I’ve never known quite what to do with. So I think dropping it here would be a good place to start. See what y’all think about it. And is it worth sharing, selling on band camp or whatever? It largely feels unfinished to me and mostly experimental sounding. Though interesting to real fans like you I don’t see that it has value generally in the Music marketplace. But what is the Music marketplace anyway? nobody knows anymore what that is. It’s largely whatever we make it out to be. I’ve been thinking a lot about that issue how to go forward as a music creator, serving my fans directly from the tap, fresh juice right off the vines like lemons and limes, songs, and rhymes for all my friends.Lately I’ve been playing around with video ideas. I do lots of layered collage stuff that in my Photoshop work. I wanted to capture that in video form. So I’ve been doing funny little videos with the idea that I was going to layer these different videos into one collage video. With music added, of course. I finally sat and did this with some of the video I shot on the tours this year of landscapes and other odd things I’ve come across. Like this video of multiple disco balls at the venue we played in Reno Nevada. Layered over some redwoods and some grass blades and the random open bookoutdoors on a shelf of a dilapidated building. Just sitting there. The book was too high for me to really see what it was. But I got as good of a video as I could from it, and the wind helped me out by turning the pages like a ghost hand at just the right time. I love that shit when random things happen just as they should happen without being aware of it till later when I watch the video and begin combining it with other elements. When contemplating music for this video, I wasn’t sure which way to go. Part of me felt like I should use new music from my new record and use it as a promotional tool to promote more my new record. But let’s face facts, records die after three months commercially, if they were ever alive at all, we don’t know. So Leaving Time is pretty much a done deal. And I won’t go into it too much, but this is one of the great discouraging facts about making records as an independent artist. I don’t have well connected agents and managers or publicists who are working to make me famous. I haven’t given huge chunks of my publishing or rights to my image to any conglomerates to place me in high profile positions on major festivals or late night tv talk shows, to grow my professional career to a star status. I rather find this avenue of music career growth to be offensive, uninteresting and dishonest. But that’s just me. Then I remembered the Stewball remixes. This morning‘s night remix you’ll hear a different person singing what sounds like a vocal, but it’s merely a harmony with my lead vocal taken out and that harmony vocal brought to the fore. The voice you hear is a great Singer songwriter named Michael Fracasso. A very good friend to me and to George Reiff who produced Well After A While. The album that Mornings Night is off of. There are some other harmonies as well on this that I am not sure who those singers were. It could be Brandy Zdan or Sally Allen. It could be The Mastersons. I don’t know. Jorge had carte blanche to add things as he felt necessary if I was there or not. Then if I didn’t like it later, I could nix it, but we would still pay the musicians. Which reminds me somewhere, I have my friend, Nick Offerman doing a recitation of a bit I used to do at the end of a song called Somebody Else. When we did it live, I would go into this bit about the drunken piano player at the end of the song and tell a story about something that happened. It could vary in its details. I thought when I recorded this song, I might add that, but I didn’t want to do it. I thought it’d be cool to have Nick Offerman do it. And he sent me a recording of it cool guy that he is. But in the end, I felt the bit, not because of Nick‘s performance, but because of the part itself, I felt cheapened the song and made it more of a novelty than it should be. I have a lot of other thoughts about that song and about this weird in-between place it sort of inhabits, where people giggle because there’s so much space in it. It makes people nervous and they don’t know if it’s serious or if it’s funny. I love that. I love that people don’t know how to feel when they hear the song. I love music really when it gives one multiple feelings that conflict or contradict with each other and confuse one. Tony Joe White is a great example of this. The first time I heard him, my friend Ingmar, who worked at Munich records gave me a copy of one of his first records. When I search for it now all I find online is a record called simply “ Tony Joe.“ So this record may have been a European version of his first or second record. It has a song called Stud Spider on it, I found to be a really bizarre song then and still now. It’s great. It’s one of my favorite things, but I remember at first not being sure if Tony Joe White was serious or not. Like was he for real or was he tongue in cheek? Maybe I should make a playlist now that I’ve referenced Peter, Paul and Mary and Tony Joe White in the same post ha ha. That’s right we’re going to listen to songs about a spider man playboy And a famous racehorse So here it is without further ado my highly indulgent art film, Reno Disco Bal This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Love trouble Alpha that’s how we write it on the set list and these three are often group together as a triplet a trio, a three song assault. Often coming early in the set these three usually set the tone for a more electric guitar driven rock ‘n’ roll set. I have found when I include this three song block in the set. I do tend to play the electric guitar more. It just sets the tone. You know these songs firstly as, “If Love Is Earned “ what I think of as an early 70s Elvis song. I like to think that Elvis would’ve like my son and offered to record it. He may have offered me a 50%.what I think of as an early 70s Elvis song. I like to think that Elvis would’ve like my son and offered to record it. He may have offered me the 50-50 publishing deal Aggie did so many others he would take 50% of the writer share. Which seems unfair but when you do the math 50% of millions of sales is really good money so many riders like Eddie rabbit Mack Davis Ryan millsap they took they took the deal.. Dolly Parton now over did not take the deal on. I will always love you. And it paid off for her with Whitney Houston and you chat with it in the 80s.The middle songs, of course trouble trouble ass sort of Louis meets the fabulous Thunderbirds rock ‘n’ roll song using reckless driving metaphors for life and love. I got the hook for the Son lyrically from Iola Davis, who was a spokesperson for KKDA sold 73 in Grand Prairie, Texas. A radio station. I listen to religiously when I was in Dallas. Maybe the greatest local radio station I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Every day multiple times you would hear. From Iowa Davis saying that was very words don’t trouble trouble till trouble troubles you so 73KKDA you’ve got a friend. It was one of many proverbs, witticisms, historic speech clips they play throughout the day on KKDA. I wrote the song for a local Austin advertising agency who was looking for a song. that the Texas Department of transportation wanted to do to encourage people to not speed to go the speed limit. And so the basic idea of trouble and speeding don’t trouble trouble trouble troubles, you all that stuff kind of is along those lines of reasoning. It did not get selected for the campaign. But I thought it was such a good song anyway I decided. Make it into just just a good song and that’s what it is one of our best rock ‘n’ roll songs. Then this goes into alphabet, which is you know my school house rock song also rhythmically or rhyme scheme loosely based on the folk song Alberta, which I know primarily through Doc Watson version. And I decided that could have a rocked up version of Alberta so I just changed the alphabet and made it all about the alphabet and what I think about those letters yeah pretty cool and great rest great reference it doesn’t matter too much what you sing it’s a great room. Recorded: by Mark CreaneyVideo: Seth Celdrán Drums- Keith Langford Bass- Mason HankamerKeys- Eric BakerSteel & Bongos- Marty MuseTijuana Trainwreck Horns-Tiger Anaya- TrumpetMark Wilson- Sax & Flute Shiny Soul SingersKellee BroadwayHoney Son This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

So this video is, I don’t know how old it is. It says it’s two years ago, but this was during 2020. I know because this was part of the Sequestered Songwriter’s Facebook live stream that I joined about halfway through the Covid shut down. It was run by Jason Eady and Courtney Patton. They organized all of their friends doing a theme night each week. It was Paul Simon night for this one. What was also great about the sequestered songwriters themes, they gave us all something to learn, something to focus on, something to plan for. That is one thing live streams in general were great for. As I travel around the country people come up to me and tell me how much my live streams The Ribfry meant to them, their friends and family. I truly entertained a lot of people, more than I realized. Sequestered Songs was just one more thing that we could all enjoy and bond over and share with the fans. They were all cover songs, but I learned a lot of great songs. This is one of my favorite ones. I just ran across this randomly looking through old recordings, cleaning up my dropbox and some other files, listening to things. I remember doing this But gosh dog it’s really good. I did it way better than I remember. I mean it’s not perfect but that’s not the point to be perfect right? perfect is boring and I’m never boring. I just thought it’d be fun to share it here at Substack. It’s probably a lot of you may or may not look through all the YouTube videos I have. There’s tons of stuff out there, but most of them have only hundreds of views. They haven’t been seen by hardly anybody. I think I’ll start sharing some things that I liked especially from that Covid live stream era. There’s a lot of great stuff that I think in the coming years we’re gonna start seeing a lot of, appreciating it more for what it actually was. Yes, it was a reprieve from our nightmare lives. But taken on its as its own on without the surrounding context of circumstances there were a lot of cool performances that went down in livestream and we’re gonna have that forever. It’s like it’s a treasure trove and one that should be preserved. I think all you archivists out there get to work This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Some of you may have witnessed this mash up that I keep in my back pocket for solo shows usually. The first time I remember doing this was at a memorial for friend, Wally Williams whose wife, Judy had passed. Also incidentally, it’s the first time I remember meeting Alice spencer. I remember I was sort of the centerpiece of the music for the memorial, but I was in bad voice. I had a cold or allergies or something so my voice was rather limited as to what I could sing. I didn’t think I could pull off the song by myself, I wasn’t sure a sing-a-long with this audience was appropriate. So I asked Alice if she could get all the singers in the room together on stage and she did. She put together a great group and guided them through the arrangement as I explained it to her, though she had never heard this arrangement. I should say that Wally Williams ran a production studio that specialized in creating music for advertising. They did all kind of music for all kinds of commercials. They were called Tequila Mockingbird, a famous place in Austin, where the music community often gathered, hung out, worked, drank, laughed and played and got paid. He and Danny Levin were partners who between them knew just about anyone who was anyone in Texas music at the time. This is why there were so many great singers in attendance. Alice, having worked there for a while, knew them all. What we had was a choir up there. It was magnificent, healing music for the family and those close to Judy. When I sing it now it has the same healing power. These two songs together have a kind of synergy. When directing the audience how to sing it the trick is that i’m not singing the whole “I’ll fly away” chorus, we’re just singing the first half of it. So if you’re ever in an audience and I do this song, you can help me convey to those around you to just sing the first half of the chorus, don’t sing the last half because it won’t work, at least I don’t think it’ll work. It’s strictly alive song because I just don’t see what the point would be to record this. It was made for congregational singing. I ended with it on this show at the cactus Café because it felt like something was being healed by singing in that legendary room again I’ve told the story before about one of the first times I played in Austin was next door to the cactus at the Texas Tavern, opening for The Wannabes, a legendary local band. After my set, I wondered the hallways of the university of Texas student union where it’s located and saw this iconic door opening and closing. It was pitch black inside, but I could hear a lot of people and someone singing. I peaked in and saw a guy named Darden Smith on stage. I remember thinking to myself man it would be great one day if I could draw a crowd like this, in a place like this. Lo and behold dreams do come true. Thank you all for being part of my dream and tomorrow on my birthday, my 58th, I will be reflecting on this incredible life. This incarnation, a journey with music as my constant companion, has been a blessing that I don’t feel like I deserved, but I wish it for everyone, to find a life’s purpose and follow where it leads. That has made all the difference. Yes it was risky for me to devote my life to music the way I did. My parents were not thrilled with that decision when I left home after high school to pursue my dream. And I totally understood why they were concerned, because I was concerned too that I would fail. But the love and the inspiration that I felt so deeply for what I did, writing, singing songs, playing music with a group of friends, I just didn’t see how I could not pursue that and do it as often as possible. All I ever wanted and still doing it now at 58 years old I feel like I’ve had the best of both worlds, having raised a family with my wife, Robin, our kids, Guthrie, Lilly, and Harlan, the wholesome home and a troubadour’s calling. I’ve had the white picket fence and the “pink Cadillac” waiting outside, a magic carpet that I could ride around this world singing my songs with a peaceful, soulful home to always come back to. Though this song says not to worry about a thing we all know there’s always plenty to worry about. Thank you all, each in your own way for helping me worry a little less with your support and encouragement. And thanks to my family for supporting me all these years, this crazy man with an impossible dream that he stubbornly refuses still to give up on. Because you never know what the next song is gonna be, you never know who you’re gonna meet, where the music is going to take you. This adventure still is just beginning. Let’s go. Mason-BassMark Creaney-Recording & MixVideo- Don Ray This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

I’m not sure when I wrote this song. But it has always been a fave. I am so glad to finally get it on a record and properly recognized in my repertoires. As I have said before, this song was inspired by a specific guitar, a Kalamazoo arch top from the 1940s I’m guessing much like this one here. A young man, Mark Allen who was working for me in the receiving dept at a local bookstore where I was a manager before becoming semi-famous told me about his grandfather’s guitar. The more he told me the more special it sounded. I asked him to bring it to me and let me give it some love. I took it home and restrung it, polished it up a bit, then played it for what must have been the first time in decades, idk. The first thing that came through my hands onto that fretboard was this little ditty that I called, “Kalamazoo.” I had this little thing around for a while before the song Drag emerged from my soul. The thought to merge these two pieces into one came to me one night, somewhere…it feels like it has always been that way. By the way, Mark has told me he wants to give that guitar to me. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I wanna go to his house right now and get it. But, also, I know sometimes selfless acts can become regrets. I’ve been very clear with him that he should think twice about it. He said he decided years ago but he just keeps forgetting about it. So, I guess I will have to go get that guitar from him. He and his wife just live up the street from me. So, I could go right now and fetch it. Maybe though I should make a little video about it. Would y’all like that? I believe the appropriate way to be gifted an instrument is to make it clear that I will never sell it, give it away or put it in a position to be harmed. And if he ever wants it back, it’s his no questions asked. Drag Words & Music-Kevin Russell Heartless hum of cicada slums still feel the sun when the day is done My bones are wet they sweat when I squeeze My head in my hands praying for a breeze I swallow my pills by the window sill try to find words for the way I feel The telephone's got an ugly tone Savages and spiders they eat their own I'm like a dog that don't like to bark Just a muddy old crow can't find the ark My feet are muddy, I guess, I suppose I’ll put’em under the water hose Sometimes I lose all humility Sometimes I can't find what's in front of me Sometimes the song finds a hole in the bag Sometimes the summer, it's just a drag It rained last night, I watched it fall Heard the radio bleeding thru the walls I couldn't remember what Dichotomy meant Then something happened, something clicked I found my woman reading in her chair we made love out of despair Sometimes I lose all humility Sometimes I can't find what's in front of me Sometimes the song finds a hole in the bag Sometimes the summer, it's just a dragLyrically this is autobiographical 100%. It’s a slice of my life, 20 years ago? Late summer, worn down by months of sweaty shows, high electric bills and electrolyte deficits. This is lyrically solid, a beautiful piece of songwriting I am proud of, my fave verse is the middle verse because of the reference to the Noah’s Ark biblical flood story and the muddy footed crow. It was Robert Bly who spoke of that old story couched in a Jungian juxtaposition between the crow and the dove, the light and the dark, lost and found. In my bible studies the crow (or raven in some translations) never came back. But, Bly presented it as the dove first returns with nothing, then a 2nd time with an olive leaf, the third time the dove does not return, then he sends out the crow who returns with muddy feet. These are things I think about when I have muddy feet. What do you think about when you have muddy feet? Mason Hankamer- Dog House BassRecorded and mixed by Mark CreaneyVideo by Don Ray This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

We shot this over at Sams Town Point with Jeremy Sexton. This was the first song released off of Leaving Time. I feel like this song encompasses much of what makes the album such a comfortable, cozy room of a record. Maybe my most honest and simple to date. Much of my recorded output has a certain amount of found objectivity to it. From Kev Russell’s Junker to Leaving Time it could be said I never knew where I was going but I wound up finding myself exactly where I needed to go. I have always followed my muse. The idea was never for me to be top of the pops, the new johnny bravo or anything like that. No, the thought was always with capturing great performances of great songs for better or worse. There’s nothing phony about this song. It comes from personal experiences losing my way, my friends, my purpose in life. But, having the courage to follow the path to where I can see a new beginning ahead and a bittersweet past further and further behind me. Some things don’t come easy, Other times they fall apart Right in front of your broken heart They'll knock you down There ain’t nothing you can do Learning how it feels, spinning your wheels Leaving Louisiana blues Some times they are tough when backs all turn on you Sweet vindication is not enough get you through We ain't here to sugarcoat it Nobody owes that to you Still Stuck on the same old clues Wondering how you lose Leaving Louisiana blues Never wait for push to come to shove Sometimes spite is stronger than love You can’t fix other people So you might as well get the hell gone Learning how it feels spinning your wheels Still Stuck on the same old clues Wondering how you lose Leaving Louisiana blues This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Leaving Louisiana blues is the song about having to leave someplace you love because the people you love want you to. Louisiana can be anywhere. The singer of the song is everyone that’s ever felt betrayed, unseen, ghosted, unwanted. In every leaving, there is the seed of returning, always. In every goodbye there is a bittersweet notion that you will come back one day, just like the ocean, the winds of change, the forgotten, the only begotten. Sometimes you gotta get up get out, get right with your doubts and sing about the way you want to be treatedStream it, save it, like it, love it, think about it right before you go to bed at night. Keep it on your nightstand like a lamp in the dark to show you the way. Mostly just give it away, sharing means caring. If you care about Shinyribs and about the people in your life, if you don’t want this to happen to you one day having to leave your own personal Louisiana then share this song, it just might be the most important thing you do today This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Now streaming on all platforms the second single off of the ground breaking album Leaving Time due out 4/25/25Go like it, save it, dance to it, share it, talk to it and tell it you love it then send it to ya mama ya daddy ya brother sister greasy granny go run tell everyone you know about this new song called shitty music by Shinyribs. There’s never been a song that’s so succinctly encompasses humanities search for meaning in a sea of banality blindness and cloying superficiality Kevin Russell also known as Mr. RIBS, has done it again if he were British, he would be knighted if you’ve got a match. It should be lighted to make a torch hoisted in honor of shitty music streaming on all platforms today, tomorrow and forever for all of us who feel such self-pity we now have a word for the music we don’t like…that word is shittyVideo: Don RayAudio: Mark Creaney Courtesy of Cactus Cafe University Of TexasI don’t wanna hang out with anyone that listens to shitty musicI don’t wanna hang out with anyone that listens to shitty musicI don’t wanna hang out with them they ain’t my friendsI want to hang out with you because you like to grooveI don’t wanna hang out with anyone who listens to shitty music.If you like soul music come over and singwith my hi-fi flying sit down next to meDrink some Colt 45s, we can get up and dancelet your hair down, take off your shoes and roll up your pantsIf you like country music, bring a bucket of icewe can play what you want or just roll the diceOn some old 45s, some unlabeled cassettesI like surprises, cold beer, and no regretsdo you remember this one?How old were you?when you first heard this song what did it mean to youI remember this one do you think it’s true?When I first heard this song I didn’t know about youI don't wanna hang out with anyone… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Leaving Louisiana BluesThere’ll come a time when you’ll understand that your enablers were actually your discouragers. They needed you to stay on their level so, to convince themselves they weren’t expected to try to improve. Success is never an option for them, only righteous indignation for being passed over and over again, nobody’s friend.There are many boundaries to consider when betrayalA country blues about navigating betrayal and self-preservation, finding a way around the burned bridges, looking for a place to fall apart and grieve for what’s been lost. “Sometimes spite is stronger than love, you can’t fix other people, so you might as well get gone”LYRICSSome things come easy,Other times they fall apartRight in front of your broken heartThey'll knock you down There ain’t nothing you can doLearning how it feels spinning your wheelsLeaving Louisiana bluesSome times are tough when backs all turn on youSweet vindication’s not enough get you throughWe ain't here to sugarcoat itNobody owes that to youStill Stuck on the same old cluesWondering how you loseLeaving Louisiana bluesNever wait for push to come to shoveSometimes spite is stronger than loveYou can’t fix other peopleSo you might as well get the hell goneLearning how it feels spinning your wheelsStill Stuck on the same old cluesWondering how you loseLeaving Louisiana blues This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Playing the wonderful cactus Café tonight lotta great memories This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

For God So Loved The World(But only some of them)Well, he’s got you believing in things you would’ve never saidhe’s been leaving questions for so long inside your headthat you forgotten most everything you learned in Sunday school,he’s overthrown your God, and changed all the rulesHe told you what to believe who to target and to blamefor your petty grievances n’ your selfishness are all the same.What have you lost? What part of you is broken? What drugs have they put you on?What crack have you been smoking?And for how long?Do unto others is now do them inFor God so loved the worldBut only some of themGreed is now a virtue And empathy is a sinFor God so loved the worldBut only some of themI’ve known you all my life and you were never like this.you always follow the rules even better than I didYou never said these kinds of things you were mostly numb.You were always good at school so how could you get so dumbDo unto others is now do them inFor God so loved the worldBut only some of themGreed is now a virtue And empathy is a sinFor God so loved the worldBut only some of them This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Engine, engine number nineComing down the railroad lineHow much farther back did she get offOld brown suitcase that she carriedI've looked for it everywhereIt just ain't here among the restAnd I'm a little upset, yes tell meEngine, engine number nineComing down the railroad lineI know she got on in BaltimoreA hundred and ten miles ain't much distanceBut it sure do make a differenceI don't think she loves me anymoreAnd I warned her of the dangersDon't speak to strangersIf by chance she find new romanceWarmer lips to kiss herArms to hold her tighterStirring new fires inside herHow I wish that it was me insteadOut of the he that stands beside her This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Thought the shows are sold out we are working on some solutions for those true fans that did not get tickets. I will keep you all informed when that ticket link is live This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve had this one circled on my calendar for a while. I love going to Wimberley and playing on this community radio station. Always fun to hang in that little town for a while. Like a lot of Hill Country towns they are in danger of being overrun by newbies and tourists. They like the tourists. But, they are not so keen on new people moving to town. Mostly because they have a beautiful way of life there that they all treasure and value. They do not want others coming in and disrupting what they have grown up with and nurtured for years. Understandable. I have never lived anywhere I felt that way about. I guess because i’ver always been the outsider in a way. I am a vagabond song and dance man with a special affinity for the local and indigenous. I do not want to change places to suit my hankerin’ and wants. Indeed we should want these places to maintain their identities as much as possible if we want to continue to have this pace we admire so much. A struggle as old as time I know. But, gotta scream into the abyss at least once a day. The high school football coach came on to talk to the retired high school football coach. Here is hoping for the best for the Wimberley Texans! I started with Santa Comes To Atlanta, but missed the video on that. There is a version on their FB. Then Simply The Best I learned by request for a dear friend’s memorial. My memory of the Tina Turner song from the 80s is not a positive one. But, taken in the context of a widowed man and stripped of the oppressive, overly self conscious production of the original this song becomes a powerfully emotional plea. I am thinking of recording and releasing it, what do you think? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Drums- Grubdog MitchellElectric Guitar- Landis Armstrongso this was recorded at the hot monk in Novato, California, a song off of Fog and Bling released in 2019. I wrote this song on a little digital Korg keyboard. When I write on Keys, I know even less about what I’m playing than when I write on stringed instruments. It’s a song about alienation and social awkwardness of which I experienced in a big way in my young life as a teenager. Mostly this is sort of a romantic impression of some of those feelings, a fantasy, if you will of my young self perhaps, or some other person feeling this loneliness, this disassociation from the “real world. “ there maybe a skosh of Romeo and Juliet in these young lovers who disappear together into the wild, wild open world. In there escape they discover the beauty of the actual real world skies. The rivers, trees, and skies. I like to think in someway, they find themselves and live happily ever after, which I have, thank you very much.This performance was part of three different shows I did in California. I believe it was in August 2024 the anchor date being a a reading/musical performance with my good friend Roy Ruth in Fresno. Landis Armstrong, who played guitar on this recording is a mutual friend with Mr. Ruth as well and we both traveled out to do the show with him. I picked up a couple of more shows to offset some of the costs of travel. We played Sacramento the night before with my old friend Grubdog Mitchell on drums. Together we formed a pretty hip and cool little trio that I wouldn’t mind performing with again sometime. Maybe if I'm out in California doing a poetry reading with Roy Ruth again one day that could happen. We had a full house this night at Hopmonk and really just enjoyed playing these songs for a very appreciative crowd. I hope you like it This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

First lyrics with AI ChatGPT-GeniusMe: Mule shoe pie and asteroids from San Francisco sleeping together on a beach in an RV waiting for Columbus to return with the dinosaur DNA and the Texas Instruments processor from 1977Genius: What a unique and imaginative topic! What genre or artist should I draw inspiration from for these lyrics?Me: Duh, ShinyribsGenius: Great choice! Here are the lyrics inspired by Shinyribs:**Verse 1**Down in San Francisco, where the wild dreams roam,Mule shoe pie sittin' in an RV home,Stars are winking bright, as the waves roll in,Asteroids are dancing, let the good times begin.**Chorus**We're waiting on Columbus, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Verse 2**The moonlight's spilling secrets on the sandy shore,With a laugh and a toast, we’re always wanting more,An RV full of laughter, where the good vibes flow,Mule shoe pie and stardust, let the magic grow.**Chorus**We're waiting on Columbus, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Bridge**Oh, the night is our canvas, let’s paint it bright,With a dash of the future, and a sprinkle of light,In the glow of the fire, we’ll share our dreams,With asteroids and memories, nothing's as it seems.**Chorus**We're waiting on Columbus, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Outro**So here’s to the moments, under the starry skies,With mule shoe pie and laughter, we’ll never say goodbye,In this RV of dreams, where the wild hearts play,We’ll keep waiting for Columbus, come what may.Hope you enjoy these lyrics! Let me know if you'd like any changes or more verses!Me: Instead of COLUMBUS make it waiting on Cabeza De VacaGenius: Absolutely! Here’s the revised version with Cabeza de Vaca:**Verse 1**Down in San Francisco, where the wild dreams roam,Mule shoe pie sittin' in an RV home,Stars are winking bright, as the waves roll in,Asteroids are dancing, let the good times begin.**Chorus**We're waiting on Cabeza de Vaca, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Verse 2**The moonlight's spilling secrets on the sandy shore,With a laugh and a toast, we’re always wanting more,An RV full of laughter, where the good vibes flow,Mule shoe pie and stardust, let the magic grow.**Chorus**We're waiting on Cabeza de Vaca, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Bridge**Oh, the night is our canvas, let’s paint it bright,With a dash of the future, and a sprinkle of light,In the glow of the fire, we’ll share our dreams,With asteroids and memories, nothing's as it seems.**Chorus**We're waiting on Cabeza de Vaca, with a heart full of hope,Dinosaur DNA, we’re gonna learn to cope,Texas Instruments humming, from a time long past,In this cosmic rendezvous, we’re making memories last.**Outro**So here’s to the moments, under the starry skies,With mule shoe pie and laughter, we’ll never say goodbye,In this RV of dreams, where the wild hearts play,We’ll keep waiting for Cabeza de Vaca, come what may.Hope this captures the spirit you were looking for! Let me know if you'd like any more changes! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

SPONTANEOUS SONG TODAYIt all happned in about 30 minutes. I think i wrote a Ramsay Midwood song. happy thanksgiving to all you beautiful soulsenjoy every spoonful of gravy Fly in the cabin flew in the cupSmoking karma in the old rough cutTomato juice for the wounded manI ain't no good drunk this morningPlease understandTake me home and call me honeyPour me on the floorTil the ants they find me I'll be yers forevermoreIt's a new jubilee fashioned from the same old soundsInk black and still wet, novel & profoundTo interfere is to change the way that it was supposed to beThe day I was born the good lord set my Daddy freeAll regrets wishes and dreamsBlooming on the vines never what it seemsSweet acidic songs of Solomon sold for snakes and shameLong forgotten judgment settled in Small claimsStories told then stored in skulls softly stainedBy pollens of narrative washed out with rain This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

Been letting the songs come and go, flow and know. These are spontaneous first drafts of songs wherein I just hunt around and play with the muse in the room. This is how most of my songs begin in this rough, unstructured, random form. If I dig it i’ll go back and sculpt it into a more formal song. These may never see the light of day. But, there was some cool moments in these. It moved from a light-hearted tongue-in-cheek ditty thru a gradually darker tone of betrayal and then a doomsday vibe. With good reason the darkness has been visiting me. I invite it in and we’ve had some interesting conversations lately. Also yes my seasoning and sauce are here. West Texas Dust and East Texas Rust can be found at Shinyribs.com Is There Room In The Market For Another Post Malone? is there room in the market for another Post Malone man? I don’t know. I was just about to go home till she looked at me with those crazy eyes. She said I’m going home with you and play you congratulations. I said Honey I’m married I don’t think my wife will agree to house you and feed you just like she does me but if you ain’t afraid of dogs, my brother lives out by the castle. If we asked him nice he’d probably let you live there cheap Livin’ cheap is the dream’s own funny way it’s just another reason to make you pay eatin’ greens and beans They're greasy good and they’re lean on the pocketbook whatever that ishow is it early and so dark?I never thought much of solitude. I never thought much about longitude or latitude until I was longing for you. I never saw him kissing you and I’m glad I never did. I might’ve lost what little mind I had left. You stole my blessings out from under me and all I got is nothing as far as I can see sitting on the floor playing cards. I hate this time of year How is it early and so darkI'm afraid God can see my shadowI have seen the sunrise I have been betrayed. I have cried beneath the moon and I have betrayed. Everybody knows we’re all bound for an early grave. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows and boy and a girl’s grave sunshine Susie don’t walk so close to me it makes my shadow long I'm afraid God can see me Good night everybody the bells are soon to toll. We’ve unleashed the beast. The devil is in control. If you will be judged, I pity you’re stupid soul. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit shinyribs.substack.comwisteria’s waftwant for what we won’t want when we want for what we don’t know what we need Love lays under greed Does the best she can With what is left of her Darkness hanging over the landCan’t u hear them pretty bells a ringinFrom the chapel through the empty square They are ringing for the righteous the loyal and the just But their ain’t nobody the…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit shinyribs.substack.com

I wrote this inspired by my old DJ pal, Clint Broussard on KPFT in Houston,Tx. He was promoting his daily radio show, Long Time Running, 90.1 FM or KPFT.org 9:30 am til Noon Mon-Fri. He mentioned that H town had them Old KoZmic Power Outage Blues Again. Of course I couldn’t resist writing that song. I recorded it, sent it to him and he played this morning on his show. I hope it brought a smile and some strength to the people. It’s available to download at my bandcamp Shinyribs.Bandcamp.comI will donate all proceeds to KPFT.org This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

This is the cooler, Oyster Tempo Coolerhttps://oystercooler.com/products/1st-edition-tempo-23-liter-introduction-pack?avad=55097_f3a0b35ed&utm_campaign=55097&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=avantlink This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe

My Crazy Mama Is A Complicated Joy My crazy mama is a complicated joyRaised on grief and belief in the all-mightyWrong from right is a fluid state despite Our human propensity for making mistakesIn the face of piety She taught me how toDance and sing Clean my plate, my room, And the kitchenUse a broomLaugh through the gloomTrust yourself to be who you areBe tough and fair, wash your clothes and your hair(when I had it, anyway)How to Cook, read a bookStand tall no matter how shook If you don't know, look it upIn the skySee the shapes shift as they go byShell peas and eat’emKeep friendsLose enemies Greet’em all with a “Hey y’all”Or a “bless your heart”Finish what ya startDo as I say, not as I doBut, Mama, come on I learned so much just by watching youI know you feel like you weren’t the best You could beBut there’s no mama in the world who doesn’t feel that wayYou’ll always be the best to meI’m so lucky to be your boyWhat else can I sayAlways and forever This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shinyribs.substack.com/subscribe