The Shabs

The Shabs is a Folk Punk band from Cape Town South Africa. Having gigged extensively across South Africa and Europe for the past 4 years they deliver a tight, captivating set that blends sincere, melodic sing- a-long folk with the raw energy and DIY ethos of punk rock. Drawing influences from artists such as Frank Turner, Erik Petersen and Against Me!, the band never ceases to get a crowd to throw their fists in the air and sing along to their anthemic tunes which have been described as honest, raw and easy to relate to. The band is made up of Jon Shaban on guitar and vocals, Ryan McArthur on double bass and backing vocals and Jon Case on drums as well as frequent collaborations with female vocalists adding to the uniqueness of their fresh ‘’High Quality Folk Punk” sound. Since the release of their debut album “Folk is Dead” in February 2016 they have toured relentlessly around South Africa (performing at festivals like Rocking The Daisies, Mieliepop, STRAB, Park Acoustics and FORR) as well as three very successful, 6-week European tours (UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Rep, Belgium) where they were favourites at festivals like Mighty Sounds (twice), No Borders No Nations, Earthquake and Ziva Ulice. 2018 saw The Shabs launch a split album, “Deja View” with SA folk punk legends, Rambling Bones. The Shabs plan to release their second full-length album at the begining of 2019 supported by a South African and European tour.