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The Heartless Bastards come to us from Dayton, Ohio. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist Erika Wennerstrom, with Dave Colvin on drums and Jesse Ebaugh on bass. While playing a local show in Akron, destiny took over and Black Keys' drummer Patrick Carney, one of the audience members, led The Heartless Bastards to Fat Possum records, where they have been since 2005.
The band's second album, All This Time was released during the summer of 2006, receiving widespread critical acclaim. The Bastards went on tour to support the record playing festivals and touring with bands including Wilco & Lucinda Williams. The band was becoming a huge success and Wennerstrom's songs started to appear on TV shows & in films. While most would consider this a measure of success, Wennerstrom thought that her sound and the band were still evolving, and thought it was time for a change.
In 2007, Wennerstrom moved to Austin, Texas looking for a new recording project and a change in scenery. With the help Mike McCarthy, producer of bands like Spoon or Trail of Dead, Erika assembled a group of musicians which helped bring life to the songs.
The Mountain was my first introduction to The Heartless Bastards and I was pleased by the sound I heard. I feel that Erika has a unique voice that could be categorized as anything from lounge singer (in a good way, not the Simon Cowell way!) to country twang with a rocking band to back it up. Pairing Erika's voice with a great blend of instruments like mandolin, banjo, and strings is a recipe for another successful album.
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