Marshall and The Moon Dance endeavors to rock your face off, cool your mellows, and languish in your love-lorn lagoons. It's no easy task, but Marshall and The Moon Dance are up for anything.
Formed in 2010, M.A.T.M.D. have built a strong following of devoted fans. The band attributes their meteoric rising tendencies to a dedication to both craft and performance.
The Moon Dance continues to soldier unexplored artistic territory while still holding true to their solid roots in blues, funk, jazz, punk, indie, and whatever else interests them at any given moment. No apologies. Lots of love. That's what they do.

hiny Empire is a rock band formed in 2010 by Justin Marler. Shiny Empire's sound has developed out of Marler's unusual musical past which includes being a founding member of the doom metal band Sleep during an epic era centered around the California musical mecca, 924 Gilman Street. Marler left the epicenter of punk rock, pop punk, hardcore punk, heavy metal, grindcore, ska punk and industrial music to become a fully tonsured monk - and perhaps, truly punk rock. Seven years later, Marler emerged from the monastery to form rock band The Sabians with Sleep's Chris Haikus. In 2005, The Sabians disbanded when Marler relocated to Austin, Texas.

Drawing from this varied background and inspired by Austin's music scene, Marler began writing songs again. Finding the right lead guitarist wasn't happening, so Marler decided to integrate keyboards into the sound. Shiny Empire chanced upon Phil Davies and his keytar in Summer of 2011. A keytar is the infamous 80's instrument which mashes a keyboard and guitar into one crazy synth machine. Around the same time Jaime Cano, formerly of The Always Aready, became the band's drummer, and John Bello of Bevo signed on as bass player. At the end of 2011, fourth generation trumpeter Addison Story joined to finish out the sound. This stellar combination resulted in punk informed, multilayered, multi-instrumental power pop. Yeah!

"Got a call from the homestead about this kid, Cody Jasper, that I once saw play bass at some smokey bar here in the Yellow. He was really young, but he was really good. My lovely wife said to be home at 10:00 so we could head up the way to the Golden Light to see him kill it. When we walked in, there was about twenty people with their eyes pasted on the stage. There they were...the Shade.
Cody was a towering sight. Grinning and swaying feverishly as his guitar sang soft lullabies and, even, screamed bloody murder...sometimes at the same time. His presence was that of a vet--road weary, heart broken and calloused, but at the most subtle of moments, his boyish innocence/mischief would dimly surface as he would address the crowd between songs. But when he played, his guitar scorched and his voice split the smokey cellar and pinned listeners to the back wall. The bassist Sam, with his John Paul Jones locks and John Entwhistle chops, was a perfect match for Cody's fiery furvor. Tay, the small but insistent drummer, pounded all night with the heart of Animal and the precision of Buddy Rich. With probably no more than 20 years experience between them, it was obvious I was seeing something special.
Their sound is Black Keys, Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, SRV, Harry Nillsson "Jump into the Fire," Woody Guthrie, Albert King, Ziggy Stardust, a tornado ripping across the open plains, Jack White, violence, war, heartbreak, Merle Haggard, David Gilmour, a kid banging on his first drum kit, Willie Bobo, Johnny Rotten, a sleepy town on the High Plains, a crackhead on the Sunset Strip, John Fogerty, Jim Morrison, Eddie Hazel and Otis Redding.
I encourage you to seek out the Shade. They're mad nice. "