Michael Shay and the Texas Express

Michael Shay - guitar/voice
Peter "Spud" Siegel - mandolin/voice
Chris Kee - bass/voice
Peter Schwimmer - banjo
plus special guests

Born in Austin and splitting his down time between Oregon and Ecuador, twenty years exploring music from around the world finally led Michael Shay back to his artistic home deep in the North American vocal and songwriting traditions. Shay's country/bluegrass band The Texas Express has been performing in North and South America since 2012 with members such as Brian Oberlin, Chris Kee, Peter "Spud" Siegel, Peter Schwimmer, Sam Guthridge, Geoff Union, Phoebe Hunt, Patrick McAvinue, Ryan Hagler, Andy Sebastia, Garrett Siegers, Jordan Tice, and Brittany Haas. In contrast to the Michael Shay Trio, The Texas Express leans on some traditional bluegrass repertoire as well as more upbeat, banjo-ified versions of Shay's originals, re-connecting country folk and bluegrass music through a uniquely Texas lens.

With the nuance of a classically-trained musician, the twang of a born-and-bred Texan, and a career spent collaborating with musicians from around the world, Michael Shay's vision exists comfortably outside any "Americana" box while still evoking his earliest influences: Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, Dylan, and the Dead. Like those of his longtime songwriting collaborator Jim Harris, Shay's songs are as likely to touch down in the bars and backroads of cow towns as in the graveyards and parlours of old Europe, dancing with the ghosts of William Blake, Hank Williams, or Sappho - sometimes while you dance too.

A new album, "Michael Shay Sings: The Songs of Jim Harris" will be released in September 2017, co-produced by Donald Regnier, featuring performances by Ryan Hagler, Donald Regnier, Daniel Dufour, Fidel Minda, Matt Giles, Marty Muse (Robert Earl Keen), Brian Oberlin, Chris Kee (Peter Rowan), "King" Louis Pain, Daniel Pacheco, Steve Kerwin, and Engineered by Chris Shaw (Bob Dylan).

Shay has performed/recorded/collaborated with Anais Mitchell, Jonathan Byrd, Eliza Gilkyson, Zoe Lewis, Patrick McAvinue, Sam Guthridge, Jordan Tice, Brittany Haas, Phoebe Hunt, Eleanor Whitmore (Steve Earle/The Mastersons), Mark Rubin (Bad Livers), Will Taylor, Cyril Neville (Neville Brothers), Conrad Choucroun (NRBQ/Patty Griffin), Matt Hubbard (7 Walkers/Willie Nelson), Carolyn Wonderland, Guy Forsyth, Matt Fockler, Geoff Union (Ragged Union), Johnsmith, Paula Nelson, Libby Kirkpatrick, Idgy Vaughn, Alex Coke, Wayne Sutton, Matt Giles, Jonathan Doyle, Maria Tejada, Donald Regnier, Paco Godoy, Mariela Condo, MUNN, Orquesta de Instrumentos Andinos Quito, and many others.

Website:

http://www.michaelshay.com/texas_express/