Russel Taine Jr.

“In our continued celebrations of Love Austin Music Month, the AMM points a glaring spotlight at ATX-based songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Aaron Winston‘s pop-powered anti-folk project Russel Taine Jr.” - Laurie Gallardo, KUTX

“Russel Taine Jr. channels millennial pop-punk through Uncle Tupelo.” - Rachel Cholst, Adobe & Teardrops

Based in Austin, TX, Russel Taine Jr. is the musical project of Aaron Winston, a New Jersey native who moved to Texas after he found out there were places where you didn't have to listen to Bon Jovi 24/7 on the radio.

“It’s not that I don’t love Livin' On A Prayer,” Winston says. “I just never want to hear it again.” 

Winston began writing in high school, channeling Elliott Smith and Pavement. Later influences include Conor Oberst and 90s indie-folk. He eventually adopted the pen name his grandfather used as an American journalist in Moscow during the Cold War. 

While the name itself leads to questions, it also anchors the group to a long tradition in southern rock (who exactly was Lynyrd Skynyrd or Marshall Tucker anyways?).

With a musical sound that has been variously described as “Uncle Tupelo meets Millennial power pop” and “If Tom Petty was from Texas, but with more Iggy Pop,” Russel Taine Jr. features Aaron Winston (songwriter/vocals/guitar), Justin Winslow (bass), Wes Armstrong (drums), and Dylan Hill (lead guitar/backing vocals).  

After an EP (American Dream 2019), a full-length album (Tales 2022), and a bunch of singles, the quartet returns this November with Ghosts—a 5-song set that lingers more than it shouts. Written in the quiet hours of late-night Austin and tracked live in Test Tube Studios with minimal overdubs, Ghosts trades big hooks for hushed confession, pairing weary guitars with spectral synths and Winston’s breath-close vocals. The result is a record that feels both timeless and out-of-time: part Bandcamp-era lo-fi, part Drag City slow-burn, wholly Russel Taine Jr.

Since debuting at Austin’s Mohawk in 2017, the group has:

• Sung background on Ben Kweller’s comeback LP Circuit Boredom

• Shared stages with Nick Adamo, Deuce Bennett, Genuine Leather, and more Austin-based bands

• Landed spins on KUTX 98.9 and coverage in Austin Chronicle & American Songwriter

The upcoming single “Sidewinder” (August 8) paves the way for Ghosts, captured with Hill’s atmospheric leads, Winslow’s melodic low-end, and Armstrong’s brushed, heartbeat percussion. Together they craft music “made in a room full of friends—delicate, raw, and deeply human.”