As the sun sets on a Texas Saturday night, so does it too on one of Austin’s most raucous, exciting outlaw country bands. The Crooks released their most recent album, Wildfire, last July receiving high praise from the Austin Chronicle, and consists of an assortment of musicians who bring their own flavor to the stage, a mixed brew of Tejano, Rock, Country, Punk and Blues; their music is truly one of a kind. The band consists of Josh Mazour on lead vocals and guitar, Anthony Ortiz Jr. on accordion and trumpet, Ryan Goebel on lead guitar, Joey McGill on stand-up bass, Doug Day playing trumpet and percussion and Joey Bybee on drums. One can hear the influences and Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson in their music, however, the raw energy they bring to their live shows has listeners dancing, jumping and hollering like a rock show, separating their shows from you might expect from a typical country show. With slow songs such as, “Sad Sad Song” that summons images of people two-stepping or sipping whiskey at the bar, to rowdy songs like, “Toe to Toe” that gets the blood pumping and listeners ready to rumble, The Crooks cover all bases of music.
As the Crooks finish up their farewell tour, KUTX was lucky enough to have them stop by to give us one last memorable performance at Studio 1A. They will be playing a sold out show at Antone’s this Saturday night, February 13th, you can also stream their music here on KUTX. Like outlaws John Dillinger, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, we’re sure The Crooks will go out guns blazing into the night. Thank you again Crooks for the incredible musical experience, y’all will surely be missed.
-Andrew Conroy
