Under The Radar : Artists and Albums To Look Forward To In 2009 : Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

by My Old Kentucky Blog on Mon, 2009/01/19 - 3:20pm Post to Twitter

The proverbial "change of scenery" is, and always has been, a bit of a cure-all in America. Flunking out of school? Transfer. Highly-touted, overpaid athlete wallowing on the bench? Trade. I’d go as far as to suggest that if I went into work tomorrow and finally decided to treat my boss to a Cattle Catch Neck Crank, some might suggest, correctly, that I would benefit from a change of scenery. Hell, I might even be removed from the weekly treat list.

Even musicians can benefit from a change of scenery. Had a convalescing Dylan not made his way to West Saugerties, New York, we would likely not be blessed with many great records, including The Basement Tapes and Music From Big Pink. Likewise, Bowie could likely never have created Heroes had he not ventured to West Germany. I’m guessing Erika Wennerstrom would be pleased if the upcoming Heartless Bastards release, The Mountain (get it Feb. 3 from our pals at Fat Possum), one day finds itself in the popular music pantheon alongside the aforementioned records. Wennerstrom herself only knows what motivated her move to Austin, but a slew of incendiary performances from new collaborators make The Mountain an unmistakable stylistic leap for the band. The sure hand of producer Mike McCarthy (best known for his work with Spoon, Dead Confederate and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead) allows mandolins and banjos to intermingle with the big guitars we’ve come to expect from Heartless Bastards, but make no mistake, Wennerstrom’s voice is the thing that makes The Mountain move.

On Tour

Jan 30 - Young Ave Deli - Memphis, TN
Jan 31 - Martyrs’ - Chicago, IL
Feb 3 - Great Scott - Allston, MA
Feb 4 - Maxwell’s - Hoboken, NJ
Feb 5 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
Feb 6 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Feb 7 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Feb 10 - Late Show With David Letterman - New York, NY
Feb 11 - Gravity Lounge - Charlottesville, VA
Feb 12 - Bottletree - Birmingham, AL
Feb 13 - Government Street Grocery Club - Ocean Springs, MS
Feb 14 - The Last Concert Cafe - Houston, TX
Feb 28 - Hailey’s - Denton, TX
Mar 15 - The Pageant - St Louis, MO
Mar 16 - Liberty Hall - Lawrence, KS
Mar 17 - Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa, OK
Mar 18 - TBA - SXSW
Mar 19 - TBA - SXSW
Mar 20 - TBA - SXSW
Mar 21 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
Mar 23 - Lyric Oxford - Oxford, MS
Mar 27 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
Mar 29 - Mr. Smalls - Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 2 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI
Apr 4 - Varsity Theater - Minneapolis, MN
Apr 7 - The Warehouse - Calgary, Alberta
Apr 8 - The Starlight Room - Edmonton, Alberta
Apr 10 - The Plaza Nightclub - Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 11 - Crocodile Cafe - Seattle, WA
Apr 15 - The Boardwalk - Sacramento, CA
Apr 16 - Slims - San Francisco, CA
Apr 21 - The Clubhouse - Tempe, AZ
Apr 24 - Gothic Theater - Denver, CO

All 2009 Under The Radar posts on MOKB

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