The
Bad Livers were a band from
Austin, Texas whose inventive musical style defied attempts to categorize them according to existing genres. The original lineup, formed in 1990, included
Danny Barnes on
banjo,
guitar and
resonator guitar,
Mark Rubin on
upright bass and
tuba, and Ralph White III on
fiddle and
accordion. When White left the group at the end of 1996, he was briefly replaced by Bob Grant on
mandolin and guitar. Barnes and Rubin then continued to perform and record as a duo until unofficially dissolving the band in 2000. The band has neither toured nor recorded since then, but Barnes and Rubin have played a few live shows with Grant in 2008, 2009, and 2014.