When Wes and Jyl Freed of the band Dirtball felt that it was time for a new project their long-time fans feared the worst.
Would this be the end of a fifteen-year ride? However, with the help of some of their friends--and the staff of their record label--Wes & Jyl quickly found themselves with a new band on their hands.The Shiners is the name of this new project.
Wes & Jyl Freed will still be holding down the primary vocal duties for the band.
Joining them on upright bass is Greg Harrup, a veteran of many rockabilly and roots acts including Robert Gordon, The Cashmere Jungle Lords, and Chrome Daddy Disco.
On guitar is Planetary Records label manager Steve Douglas (GWAR, Log, Death Piggy, Snakehandlers.) Steve and Wes also performed together in Mudd Helmet and founded the original Dirtball.
Sharing guitar duties (and also making The Shiners truly a family affair) is Terry 'Terror' Douglas, Steve's wife and art director of Plan 9.
Terry has performed with Log, and Pleasure Astro and also plays accordion and banjo with the band.
Rounding out the lineup is Brian Larson ( Planetary's promotions director) on drums and Erin Snyder (Deliberate Strangers) on fiddle.
In addition, Kirk Rundstrom (Split-Lip Rayfield) plays dobro and mandolin with the band when he's not on tour in support of his other projects, and Travis Charbeneau plays steel guitar.
The Shiners have performed with Hank Williams III, Drive-By Truckers, Split Lip Rayfield, The Waco Brothers, Two-Dollar Pistols, Tift Merritt, Ex-Husbands, The Hogwaller Ramblers, The Hackensaw Boys, Used Carlotta, Blind Pharoahs, Demolition String Band, S.C.O.T.S., Hangdogs, Naked Omaha, and One Riot, One Ranger.
Venues they've played include The Star Bar, Echo Lounge (Atlanta), The Continental, The Irish Rover (NYC), Tasty World (Athens), Nicks (Birmingham), Hideout (Chicago), Alley Katz, Fireballz, Poe's Pub, Canal Club, Banditos (Richmond), Orbits (Fredericksburg), Paloma's (Baltimore), Iota (Arlington) and The Star Hill Music Hall (Charlottesville).
Festivals incude 2001, A Twang Odyssey in New Jersey, Twangbang in New York, Atlantis Festival in Atlanta, and Midsummer Music Festival in Richmond, VA.
Most recently The Shiners played several stages at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.The band also hosts a seasonal event in Richmond called The Capital City Barndance, bringing out-of-town bands to The Shiners' hometown.
The Shiners are releasing their debut CD "Bonnie Blue" with a Halloween CD release party.
They also had 2 tracks included on the acclaimed "Thrillbillys" soundtrack, which also featured Trailer Bride, The Drive-By Truckers, Kirk Rundstrom, and Angry Johnny and the Killbillies.
The Thrillbillys was released 9/11/2001 and has already charted several months in a row on the Freeform Americana Radio charts put out by Third Coast Magazine.
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