Like a lot of bands from around the fertile live music scene in Austin, Texas, the Bad Livers have an eclectic array of musical influences. The trio has never worried about musical categories -- their recordings run the gamut from blues, traditional folk, and bluegrass to early rock & roll and even punk rock. It's also possible to hear music by the Carter Family, Iggy Pop, the Misfits and Slayer, all in the course of one concert set. As a result, they've tapped into a growing base of music fans who also appreciate a mongrelized approach to music. Their chosen instruments are also unique within the pop-rock realm: lead singer Danny Barnes plays banjo, guitar and resonator guitar; Mark Rubin plays bass and tuba; the two are joined by newest member Bob Grant, who plays mandolin, guitar and tenor banjo. Grant replaced Ralph White, who played fiddle and Cajun and Mexican accordion with the trio.

Both Rubin and Barnes grew up with bluegrass music, so that form permeates much of what they do. Rubin, raised in rural Oklahoma, began playing tuba as a youngster and continued his studies into high school, when he also began playing bass. Rubin was raised with klezmer music in his youth, and from his early teens, he began to develop a deep appreciation for blues and rock & roll as well. The Bad Livers formed in 1990, right after Rubin had attended the New Music Seminar in New York and was inspired to put together his own band.

The Bad Livers have a number of albums out, two on the Chicago-based Touch and Go label --
Delusions of Banjer (1992), and Horses in the Mines (1994). More recently, they released Hogs on the Highway (1997) for North Carolina-based Sugar Hill Records, followed a year later by Industry and Thrift. Blood and Mood appeared in early 2000.             

 ~ Richard Skelly, All Music Guide    

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