Steve Austin & The Bioniq Brass Band

Steve Austin& The Bioniq Brass Band

Based in New Orleans, Louisiana — Debut album Head of the Street released 2021

Steve Austin & The Bioniq Brass Band carry New Orleans brass tradition into the twenty-first century, fusing soul, hip-hop, and the city’s call-and-response tradition into dance music built for the street and the stage. Fronted by trumpeter and vocalist Steve Austin — sharpening his instincts since the age of ten — the band’s debut album Head of the Street (2021, Elevated Busking Records) announced a commanding new voice in the modern brass band scene.

Never heard Steve Austin & The Bioniq Brass Band before?

🎵 Signature Song

“It’s Hard Not to Like You” (2021)

⚜️ Known For

Soul-hip-hop brass fusion

🎺 Catch Them

Jazz Fest · Tipitina’s · Blue Nile

“Austin’s goal is always to create movement in the feet and feeling in the hearts of listeners.”

— Elevated Busking Records

Why We Love Steve Austin & The Bioniq Brass Band

New Orleans never runs short of brass bands, but few arrive with this much purpose. Steve Austin plays the trumpet like a man leading a parade and sings like one, folding hip-hop swagger and deep soul feeling into a brass attack that never forgets its second-line roots. Head of the Street is built for one thing above all: movement — feet moving, crowds moving, whole blocks moving. In a city where the brass band is sacred text, the Bioniq Brass Band writes a thrilling new chapter without erasing a single word of what came before.

Biography

A New Voice in the Brass Band Line

Louisiana-raised trumpeter and vocalist Steve Austin has been sharpening his musical instincts since the age of ten, steeped in the brass band tradition of his home state and influenced by greats like Keith “Wolf” Anderson and Charles Mingus. With the Bioniq Brass Band behind him, he pairs a commanding stage presence with a sound that pulls the New Orleans brass band squarely into the present tense.

The band’s debut album, Head of the Street — released September 24, 2021 on Elevated Busking Records — blends soul, hip-hop, and call-and-response across eleven tracks, from the DJ favorite “It’s Hard Not to Like You” to the footwork anthem “Cut They Head Off.” It is party music with deep roots: heavy on the fusion of brass and percussion, mixed with the call-and-response so well known in New Orleans culture.

“Steve Austin helps to put a modern and dope twist on contemporary brass band music.”

— press release, Elevated Busking Records

The band has shared stages with the Stooges Brass Band, Mystikal, the Big Ass Brass Band, the Revelers Hall Band, and Congo Square, among many others — and Austin is a fixture on the big New Orleans stages, from Tipitina’s to the Blue Nile. The band played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2025 and returns to the Fair Grounds lineup in 2026.