The Bridge City Sinners

The Bridge City Sinners fuse searing strings that generate their own propulsive rhythm with original compositions straddling folk, jazz, punk, and bluegrass boundaries, all while packing lyrics full of dark narratives and vivid scenes.

The group took shape in Portland, Oregon, during 2016, initially featuring lead vocalist and banjolele performer Libby “Lux” Barthuly, vocalist and clarinetist Ryan Duff, resonator guitarist Michael “Sinner” Flecha (also active locally as King Strang), upright bassist Scott Michaud, and washboard player Amanda Jenkins. Their independently issued, self-titled first record balanced earnestness against wry detachment, partly through jazz- and folk-styled renditions of outside material ranging from “St. James Infirmary” to the Jungle Book standard “I Wan’na Be Like You.” The 2018 follow-up Here’s to the Devil confirmed that the band’s sepia-hued murder ballads and undead-creatures imagery reflected genuine conviction, as original tracks “Kreacher” and “Through and Through” each accumulated millions of streams and spread widely online.

Duff and Jenkins had already exited by the time Here’s to the Devil appeared, replaced by banjo player Hunter Rukstad, guitarist Jesse Payne, mandolinist Steve “Clyde McGee” Kilcrease, and fiddler “Lightnin’” Luke Biespiel. Further personnel changes preceded the 2021 release Unholy Hymns, with Payne stepping away after engineering and mixing the record while Rukstad yielded his spot to Clyde McGee, leaving a five-piece ensemble. The infectious, high-energy singles “Devil Like You” and “Pick Your Poison” emerged as audience standouts, bolstered by the Sinners’ relentless road schedule and tight rapport with supporters who frequently hosted or socialized with the band after performances.

That same lineup—Lux, Sinner, Michaud, Biespiel, and McGee—issued In the Age of Doubt in 2024, extending the prior album’s closing suite of end-times dread across an entire collection of thematically aligned songs. The record reached number two on Billboard’s bluegrass chart and landed just outside the Top 20 on the Heatseekers chart, which tracks new and developing acts.