Heartless Bastards, the premiere purveyors of genre-hopping vintage garage boogie, are a fantastic band on record and even more of a force live. Though originally from the Cincinnati-Dayton market, Erika Wennerstrom relocated to Austin and changed personnel since we last saw them around. The result was this year’s The Mountain, a stripped-down, twangier effort compared to the lush, orchestral 2006 LP All This Time.
Interesting story about Wennerstrom. Before I started worked at The Dame in Lexington in 2005, the former general manager there was a big fan of Heartless Bastards and wanted to build a fan base for them in town. He would often call Erika up and pay her $50 to come down and play impromptu acoustic sets between headlining bands at various relevant shows. Sometimes she would even be set up in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, the effort at that time was fruitless. It took the big Fat Possum and CMJ push with All This Time before the band could sell out the venue. This just illustrates the humility and passion for their music that Wennerstrom and the band have, and prove that their current success (including an appearance on Letterman) is very well deserved.
Heartless Bastards play tonight at Louisville’s Headliners. They’re opening for Jenny Lewis, which is admittedly rather meh. But their raw and impassioned live performance is worth every penny for the ticket, which will be available at the door. Read more about what the band’s been up to lately in Erika’s interview with LEO this week.
Heartless Bastards
Tonight – Monday, July 6th
Doors @ 7 p.m., Show @ 8 p.m.
Headliners Music Hall – Louisville (map that shizz)
MP3 :::
Heartless Bastards – Finding Solutions
Heartless Bastards – The Mountain
