On September 23rd, Austin’s edgy bluegrass quintet Whiskey Shivers will release their third full-length album, a self-titled collection which you can now preorder on iTunes to receive a download of their latest single ‘Free.’ Aiming to “knock the dust off roots music,” the five bandmates came together in 2009 to give some passion and grit to the rockabilly sounds of their predecessors. Their boundless energy and obvious camaraderie has allowed them to carve out their own space in the local live scene, becoming regulars at venues like Antone’s. The band is currently touring the US in support of the album, so keep an eye out for a local show and be sure to catch the forthcoming release. - Jillian Dooley

Merey Kimbrough of Mother Merey and the Black Dirt has a vocal style so unabashed it would make Bessie Smith proud. Combine that with the group's foot stomping energy and this band delivers a solid bluesy folk sound like no other. Last week they were the perfectly placed opener for The Builders and the Butchers at The Buzz Mill's Jamboree. Amid the hatchet tossing, jerky making and flapjack eating, there was Mother Merey and the Black Dirt, bringing down the rain with their glorious down home raucous. On May 29th they'll be releasing their album, Down to the River, at Antone's alongside Holiday Mountain, Whiskey Shivers and Old Gray Mule. -- Written by Charise Sowells

From our good friends (well...I say friends. More like they don't know who we are, and we look on longingly) at The Good Music Club, we have a delicious video of Austin's most beloved Whiskey Shivers playing a song off their new album "Rampa Head". Having been at the show myself I can safely vouch for the pure delight that is this performance. Here at The Deli Austin Office we are positively abuzz and excited about the new Whiskey Shivers album (I look across The Office, i.e. the room, at the cat in the corner. The cat stops and looks back at me blankly. It's official. We are abuzzed). -Taylor Browne

It would be a sin not to see Whiskey Shivers play live. The last I saw the band (not a week or so ago) they had arrived in Austin at about 7AM after a month long tour through the North West. Unfazed by this long trek, the five piece yeehawin’ bluegrass punks put on one of the most incendiary shows I have ever seen. The only bad part of their performance was that they were only allowed to play for forty minutes.

After opening with a couple of foot stompin’ hoedown suited songs, the band played some new material. “We’re gonna slow it down now,” said front man and fiddle player Bobby Fitzgerald, “Don’t freak out now. We’re just slowin’ it down.” The song that followed was heartbreakingly brilliant. If tears weren’t shed, they should have been. The moment the song ended, the crowd erupted into applause, hoots, and hollers. The crowd was made up of the Whiskey Shiver punks who danced the night away in overalls and flannel while downing Lonestar like it was water.

Whiskey Shivers don’t seem to play their instruments. Each listens to their instruments, waiting for that magic spark to come through. And when the moment hits (and it always does for these boys) the band and the audience have the biggest grins on their faces. - Taylor Browne