When he was 14 year old teenager, living in Beaumont, Texas, Kevin Russell found a sewing machine, guitar and box full of comics underneath his father's bed. Destiny wanted him to choose guitar. Although he was a frontman of The Gourds for the most of his career, he decided to go solo in 2008 and perform under the alias Shinyribs. Considering that his mother-band, one of the major representatives of alt-country and Americana, is on sabbatical, Russell gained some space to work on his own projects. He formed a new band, and recorded something completely different than what he was creating throughout his career.
I Got Your Medicine is a gumbo moving from country soul and swamp pop all the way to Louisiana r&b. It is all cooked on the slow fire, balancing between tradition and lucid modern twists. It seems like Dr.John has possessed Kevin. Wooden section Tijuana Train Wreck Horn and background vocals Shiny Soul Sisters nourish a prominent New Orleans vibe. Songs where this is the most obvious are Tub Gut Stomp and Red-Eyed Soul. Even their press release included this description. In one interview, Russell noted: " If Woody Guthrie and Allen Toussaint were collaborating on a song about slow-paced drowning of the working class in the pharmaceutical addiction supported by economic decline, that would be it."
Toussaint's influence is conspicuous through the covers of A Certain Girl and Nothing Takes The Place Of You. The whole LP was recorded live in period of only three days, which help the band conserve the energy they present on their concerts. The final outcome would probably not be as efficient If there the production input was not coming from the old Mississippi wolf Jimbo Mathus. My personal favorite is I Don't Give A Shit, a country romp duet with Alice Spencer. Comically religious Cross Is The Boss closes the album, and the medicine Shinyribs has given you is big smile.
