The Shufflehawks

Country music isn’t a dead language,” says Mark Willenborg, the founder of the Shufflehawks. “I believe it’s alive and still one of the best ways to communicate the human experience.”

Due to the fact that mainstream country music on the radio sounds anything but the true legacy of Texas Country Music these days, Willenborg took it upon himself to write and play music in the vein of his heroes like Willie Nelson, George Strait, Waylon Jennings, and George Jones and “jokingly” created his own genre “NeoRetroAmeriCountry,” which he manifested with the release of his debut album “Cold Beer And Country Music” in late 2020.

“I guess I just naturally write the type of music that I grew up listening to in the 70’s – [Johnny] Paycheck, Jones, Tom T. Hall, and since I’m a native Texan, Willie of course.”

Having found his niche in the honky-tonk sound of his home state, Willenborg’s songs paint pictures about love, hope, and vulnerability but may also include “just a good old crying in your beer song,” adds Willenborg and proclaims: “Every honky-tonk record needs one of those.” lTogether with his band, the Shufflehawks, Willenborg invites the audience to shuffle, two-step, and waltz through the dust on the dance floor.