Steve Austin, the founding vocalist/guitarist for long-running visionary metal outfit Today Is The Day, announces the details for the debut LP from his classic outlaw country/bluegrass act, Marked Cards And Loaded Dice (SuperNova Records), now set for May release on his own.

He is a rising force in traditional outlaw country music – an acclaimed songwriter, fiery guitarist, and magnetic performer whose journey from metal legend to heartfelt country storyteller has been nothing short of legendary. Born and raised on a horse farm in Lebanon, Tennessee, with deep family roots in the Appalachian hills of Chestnut Mound, he grew up surrounded by the raw sounds of Hank Williams Sr., Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, David Allan Coe, Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Cash, and Neil Young. He picked up the guitar at age ten and spent countless hours trading old-time country songs with his father, Tillman Austin – a honky-tonk musician whose words and melodies would later light the spark for Steve’s return to his first love. 

While he’s fronted the heavy-hitting Today Is The Day for over three decades, the pull of classic country never left. Inspired by his father’s songs, Austin headed to the cold, icy winters of Orland, Maine (his current home) and poured three decades of life, loss, love, and hard-won hope into his debut full-length country album, Marked Cards And Loaded Dice. Fully engineered, recorded, mixed, and mastered by  Austin, the album was recorded entirely on 1960s-‘70s vintage analog gear – including Neve preamps, Neumann tube mics, and Abbey Road TG console equipment used on The Beatles and Pink Floyd – the record sounds as rich and real as the golden era of outlaw country. Rippin’ D-28 and D-18 guitar work drives intense rhythms and down-home solos. Marked Cards And Loaded Dice sees Steve Austin handling guitar, bass, and vocals, and Colin Frecknall on drums, while legendary pedal steel master Dana Flood (Hall Of Fame sideman for Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and George Jones) and fiery fiddle virtuoso Ryu Bennett add soaring, emotional depth.