By Michael Gaither

If you combined the three of the greatest musical genres — Texas blues, New Orleans rhythm and blues and Memphis soul — you’d probably get a band that sounds a lot like Shinyribs. The band originally started as a side project (and nickname) for Kevin Russell, who was part of the alternative country band The Gourds in Austin, Texas, for nearly two decades. When The Gourds dissolved, Russell took to Shinyribs full time.

Shinyribs have since released nine albums, including the latest, “Leaving Time.” The Sentinel caught up with Russell as he and the band were getting ready to come our way at Moe’s Alley on Thursday. Russell was born in Beaumont, Texas, and spent much of his early days in Shreveport, Louisiana. He went to high school there, and it’s where he formed his first bands. With regional influences like that, it’s no surprise that Shinyribs mixes so many types of music.

“I’m a music fan first and foremost,” Russell said. “And my fandom certainly influences my sounds. I like to mash things up.” These days he plays keys and “anything with strings,” but the guitar is where he started. Surprisingly, he didn’t set out intending to eventually front his own bands. “I learned the guitar because I wanted to be a songwriter,” he said. “I didn’t really intend to be a guitar player, but I knew I had to play an instrument to write songs.”

And like many of us who grew up loving music and wanting to make our own, the guitar was an easy way in.“My dad played guitar,” he added. “Not professionally, but it was around the house and the campfires. He showed me how to play ‘Proud Mary.’ Then he showed me a few more chords, gave me a folk songbook and some chord diagram books and told me, ‘Good luck.’”

Fast forward from those humble beginnings: Shinyribs are known for their big shows, usually with a horn section, backup singers, insanely danceable tunes and Russell’s great tunes.

The current tour is a slightly stripped down affair, in keeping with the more song-focused approach to the new “Leaving Time” record.

“It started with this one song, ‘Leaving Louisiana Blues,’” Russell said. “It was one of those that just came in 15 minutes. I thought, ‘I need to make a record based around this song.’ I then found some very old songs I’ve had for years that never had a place on a record, and wrote a few new ones. It’s definitely a smaller, more intimate-sounding record.”

He continued, “I’m bringing a six-piece band this time, plus my pedal steel player. It fits the new record well. I’ll do a lot of the songs I’m known for, too, but we’ll mix it in with the new stuff, and have time for stories behind some of the new songs. And I really wanted to do something more musically different than I’d been doing. That’s where the muse took me on this one.”

Michael Gaither is a performing songwriter, radio DJ and the music writer for The Santa Cruz Sentinel.