Attack Of The 50-Foot Shinyribs starring Kevin Russell

A friend of mine tipped me off to the fact that my Shinyribs poster was being discussed in a Gourds chatroom somewhere, so I guess I'll set the record straight:

I have a good friend who could possibly be the biggest Gourds fan in the world.  I say that hoping to stir up some sort of "who's-the-biggest-gourds-fan" controversy in the chatroom.  Well, this friend of mine knows the band, used to follow them around like a drunken stalker and, from time to time, still talks with their singer, Kevin Russell.  

As a show of support for Russell's side solo-project, Shinyribs, my friend called me to knock around some design ideas for a concert poster.  It was going to be a surprise gift, so the entire design process had to be done in secret.  The theme we landed on was "Roadside Americana", the spirit of which is epitomized by one of those giant, 50-foot gargantuan statues that dot the highways and back roads of this fine country.  My friend wanted Russell to look "larger than life", hence the giant iron effigy amongst the towering pines.  And the roadside troubadour echoes that whole traveling musician vibe.

Kevin Russell eventually contacted me to let me know he loved the poster and that he uses it whenever he ventures out on the road under the Shinyribs moniker.  If you haven't heard Shinyribs or The Gourds, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen.  Good stuff.  Springsteen plays them on his radio show from time to time and he always has nice things to say about their songwriting chops. -v