The New Offenders

A Houston-based, southern roots/rock band, The New Offenders was formed in August of 2014. Although there were a few renditions of this band in the years before, 2014 was the year the band solidified it’s line up and took to the streets. Fronted by a Houston native, Hunter McKithan (vocals/guitar), whom once he started playing acoustic shows around the Houston area would come to meet Jason Nelson (bass) from St. Louis, Missouri. Hunter and Jason would go on to form ‘Hunter McKithan & the Offenders.’ Not long after the band’s inception, a craigslist ad netted T.Ray Porche (vocals/guitar) from Edna, Texas. These three went on to record a couple of albums and played numerous shows across the state. In early 2014, the band looked to friend, Dustin Edwards (drums) from Athens, Texas to fill the void of drummer. Dustin and T.Ray had met and became friends in 2008 while playing together in another band earlier in their careers. The two kept in touch after that particular band dissolved. This was a unique opportunity to join forces again. With this new lineup being more collaborative in musical arrangements and songwriting, in August of 2014 the band decided to change the name from ‘Hunter McKithan and the Offenders’ to simply ‘The New Offenders.’ With the new members and a reinvigorated attitude, the band set out to record it’s debut album “Stones to Throw” in December 2014 in Austin, Texas at 512 Studios with producer Omar Vallejo. With influences spanning from guitar greats such as Warren Haynes, Anders Osborne and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers to songwriters among the likes of Ryan Adams, Ben Harper and Jack White, this project promises to be of the eclectic variety. With the album 'Stones to Throw' set to release in March 2016, The New Offenders are ready to add to the story.