Band of Heathens
The Band of Heathens is constantly being compared to The Band because of the musical finesse that overlays their timeless, rootsy core. And the three founding members are all skilled multi-instrumentalists who can play almost any position in the field. But TBoH has reached so many fans so fast because of the echoes of and subtle homage to so many different artists at the core of the Americana canon, including Tom Petty, Tony Joe White, the Grateful Dead, Leon Russell, George Harrison, and other rarified stylists. You can hear a little of all that at a Heathens show or on disc, and Top Hat Crown feels like the most coherent and mature encapsulation of those elements so far.
“We’re just making it up as we go along,” says member Ed Jurdi. “I mean we don’t follow a script, we’re not good actors and we don’t take our cues well. We all agree it’s important to honestly represent the idea of what we are putting forth. As a band, we are in a position to actualize where we’re going because there is no label and there are no rules. It’s been an exhilarating ride.”
Given the timelessness of their sound, one gets the sense that Jurdi, Gordy Quist and Colin Brooks would have gravitated toward the same essential feel had they met in 1975 or 2045. As it happens, it was in 2006 after each songwriter had established residency gigs on the same night of the week at Momo’s, an eclectic-minded club on Austin’s famous Sixth Street. Friendship, semi-regular sit-ins and harmony jags gelled into something quite rare: a band with three frontmen, each with enough humility and passion to invest in the larger project. (Please stop asking them exactly when, by the way; they don’t remember.) The sum transcended the parts. Bassist Seth Whitney was a member from the get-go. Drummer John Chipman joined in 2007 as their road calendar got heavier. Excerpt from the Heathens website: http://www.bandofheathens.com/tophatcrown/BandOfHeathens2011-Bio.htm
Read More“We’re just making it up as we go along,” says member Ed Jurdi. “I mean we don’t follow a script, we’re not good actors and we don’t take our cues well. We all agree it’s important to honestly represent the idea of what we are putting forth. As a band, we are in a position to actualize where we’re going because there is no label and there are no rules. It’s been an exhilarating ride.”
Given the timelessness of their sound, one gets the sense that Jurdi, Gordy Quist and Colin Brooks would have gravitated toward the same essential feel had they met in 1975 or 2045. As it happens, it was in 2006 after each songwriter had established residency gigs on the same night of the week at Momo’s, an eclectic-minded club on Austin’s famous Sixth Street. Friendship, semi-regular sit-ins and harmony jags gelled into something quite rare: a band with three frontmen, each with enough humility and passion to invest in the larger project. (Please stop asking them exactly when, by the way; they don’t remember.) The sum transcended the parts. Bassist Seth Whitney was a member from the get-go. Drummer John Chipman joined in 2007 as their road calendar got heavier. Excerpt from the Heathens website: http://www.bandofheathens.com/tophatcrown/BandOfHeathens2011-Bio.htm
