The magnificently indefinable Asylum Street Spankers began in 1994 at a booze and hallucinogen-fueled party at the Dabbs Hotel in Llano, Texas. There Christina Marrs and Guy Forsyth met Wammo. During a night spent singing and playing along the banks of the Llano River they made a pact to keep the all-night-sing-along-anything-goes spirit of that party alive. Upon returning to Austin they gathered a few like-minded pals and began playing free shows at clubs and busking on the Guadalupe Street Drag. (Guadalupe was known as Asylum Street because it led to the state, um, hospital. A Spanker is someone who can play their instrument vigorously and proficiently.)

Within a year they conquered Austin, playing three SRO weekly residencies, including the city’s original Gospel Brunch at La Zona Rosa. With the departure of Forsyth in 1998 the band began venturing out into the wider world. Since then, Christina and Wammo have pushed their ever-evolving troupe from simple country-blues revivalism toward smart, challenging music of boundless variety, sophisticated arrangements, stunning showmanship and determined inventiveness.