Formed by accident, Band of Heathens‘ members met when they performed in the same Austin, Texas venue. The place was Momo’s and the original three members were Colin Brooks (vocals, guitar), Ed Jurdi (vocals, guitar and keyboards) and Gordy Quist (vocals, guitar and harmonica).
In the spirit of the Austin music scene, these Wednesday night jam sessions were called “The Good Time Supper Club” and continued under that name until a newspaper misprinted their name as The Heathens. And so, the story goes, that is how they got their name.
The group added a drummer and keyboardist to become the folk-inflected Americana quintet with a hometown feel. The band’s first record was self-titled and produced by Ray Wylie Hubbard. Their first and following two more studio efforts became Americana hits, topping the Americana Music Association’s chart.
Late in 2009 the band released their third studio album, One Foot in the Ether which again made it to number one on the Americana as well as the Euroamericana charts.
Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, was listed in the top 10 most played Americana Albums of 2011. It was also the last studio project featuring founding member Colin Brooks who left after six years. A double set of live Denver recordings, The Double Down and two more studio efforts round out the BOH discography.
Drummer John Chipman had joined the band in 2007. Keyboardist Trevor Nealon played in the studio during the recording of both previous albums, joined the touring unit in 2011. The leaders added drummer Richard Millsap after Chipman departed, and added bassist Scott Davis and keyboardist Trevor Nealon. This revised lineup played on the “Duende” album out last year (2017).
In the opinion of the Americana music website, The Root, “the Band of Heathens epitomize Indie, building their band business from the ground up and keeping everything in-house.”
Discography:
The Band of Heathens
Live from Momo’s (2006)
Live at Antone’s (2007)
The Band of Heathens (2008)
Live @ Blue Rose Christmas Party Germany 2008 (2009) (ltd edition)
One Foot In the Ether (2009)
Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster’s Son (2011)
The Double Down: Live From Denver (2012)
Sunday Morning Record (2013)
Duende (2017)
A Message from the People Revisited(2018)
Stranger (2020)
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays The Band of Heathens. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
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