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Heartless Bastards

 
Artist: Heartless Bastards
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
Heartless Bastards

Group Members:

Kevin Vaughn, Erika Wennerstrom, Mike Lamping, Erika Wennerstrom

Similar Artists:

Duke Spirit, The Kills

Influenced By:

PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Wilson Pickett, The Stooges, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, MC5, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Velvet Underground
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "The Mountain

Biography

The Heartless Bastards are a power trio whose members have taken a no-frills approach to life and music. Singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Erika Wennerstrom and her brother were raised by a single mom in Dayton, OH. Wennerstrom discovered her interest in music at a young age, but she always preferred writing her own songs as opposed to singing Disney tunes in school productions. Wennerstrom dropped out of her Catholic high school her senior year, and began concentrating more on music. After a few years of working dead-end jobs in Dayton, Wennerstrom moved to Cincinnati, where she met bassist Mike Lamping, who was working at his family's janitorial supply company. Wennerstrom and Lamping began performing around town as the Heartless Bastards, and quickly added drummer and pizza delivery man Kevin Vaughn to the lineup. The band began to tour, its music rooted in and heavily influenced by garage punk (MC5), indie rock (At the Drive-In), soul (Otis Redding), roots rock (Neil Young), and blues (Leadbelly). The Heartless Bastards eventually were signed to Fat Possum Records, which released both the band's 2005 debut, Stairs and Elevators, and its follow-up, All This Time, a year later, continuing with The Mountain in 2009. ~ Megan Frye, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Heartless Bastards
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Heartless Bastards

Erika Wennerstrom, vocalist and guitarist
Background information
Origin Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Genres Blues rock
Indie rock
Garage Rock
Country Rock
Years active 2003 – present
Labels Fat Possum Records
Website TheHeartlessBastards.com
Members
Erika Wennerstrom
Dave Colvin
Jesse Ebaugh
Former members
Mike Lamping
Kevin Vaughn
Adam McAllister
Michael Weinel

Heartless Bastards, formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003, is a garage rock band. They are often compared to fellow Ohioans and Fat Possum labelmates The Black Keys.

Contents

History

Heartless Bastards originally formed as a four piece band with members Erika Wennerstrom on vocals, piano and guitar, Dave Colvin on drums, Adam McAllister on bass and Michael Weinel on lead guitar. They played their first live show at The Comet, a bar in the Cincinnati community of Northside, in August 2003. After parting ways with Colvin, McAllister and Weinel, the group reformed as a three piece with Kevin Vaughn on drums and Mike Lamping on bass. The band was signed to Fat Possum Records in 2004 after Patrick Carney from The Black Keys passed along a demo he received from Erika. The 5-song demo was recorded in December 2002 at Ultrasuede Studios by Shannon McGee and featured Colvin on drums, along with contributions from Reuben Glaser on lead guitar and Jesse Ebaugh on bass.

Rolling Stone reviewed their debut album Stairs and Elevators and said, "the Heartless Bastards are a small-town band who are ready to show the big city no mercy".[1] The Village Voice wrote: "deadeye accurate in pitch and message... what we've got is a hard, gnarled voice singing simple-seeming melodies that feel archetypal rather than ordinary, which is no easier to explain than it is to do". Stylus gave the group high praise, stating, "(Erika Wennerstrom) and her two band mates have created an album with more rocking songs and fat hooks than most bands can dream of. It’s not just that they rock, it’s that you believe what you hear, that they love the sound they make, that Wennerstrom lays her soul bare in her lyrics without sounding like Sarah McLachlan, that the women of rock who labored to make it OK for a girl to dream of playing guitar deserve far better than Avril Lavigne or Kelly Osbourne as their descendants."[2]

The second full-length album from the band, All This Time, was released on August 8, 2006. The band road tested many of the tracks on the record prior to releasing it and received rave reviews from audiences. The album relies less on guitar riffs and belted vocals and more on musicianship, without leaving behind the group's unique sound. On the modern rock station WOXY, the band was ranked #12 on the 97 Best of 2005, putting the band among the likes of Spoon and ahead of blues rockers The White Stripes. [3]

According to Wennerstrom, the name of the band comes from a question on a Mega Touch trivia quiz game at a bar. A question asked the name of Tom Petty's backing band, and one of the options was "Tom Petty and the Heartless Bastards." She thought it was funny, and used it when she later formed a band.[4][5]

In August 2008, a new lineup for the band was announced. Erika Wennerstrom remains the only constant member, rejoined by bassist Jesse Ebaugh and original Heartless Bastards drummer Dave Colvin.

Their third album The Mountain was released February 3rd, 2009 on Fat Possum Records and was produced by Spoon producer Mike McCarthy. For this album the band broadened their sound to include elements of country music, employing violin, banjo, mandolin and steel guitar.[6]

The Heartless Bastards performed a taping for the popular PBS series Austin City Limits on June 3, 2009 as part of the show's 35th anniversary season.[7]

Currently, the Heartless Bastards are opening for Wolfmother, during the band's American tour.

Discography

Members

  • Erika Wennerstrom (vocals, guitar, piano)
  • Jesse Ebaugh (bass)
  • Dave Colvin (drums)

Reviews

References

  1. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7046239/stairs_and_elevators
  2. ^ http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/the-heartless-bastards/stairs-and-elevators.htm
  3. ^ http://woxy.com/music/best05.php
  4. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=4702414
  5. ^ http://www.cincygroove.com/?q=node/1017
  6. ^ http://www.filter-mag.com/index.php?id=18614&c=11
  7. ^ http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/blog/2009/06/heartless-bastards-space-avail.html

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Stairs and Elevators (2005 Album by Heartless Bastards)
All This Time (2006 Album by Heartless Bastards)
The Mountain (2009 Album by Heartless Bastards)

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