The Band of Heathens' self-titled studio debut album worked wonders. They played about 250 dates and taped a show for this year's 35th anniversary season of Austin City Limits. The album hit number one one on the Americana Music Association Radio chart.
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Monday, July 27, 2009 – The Band of Heathens' self-titled studio debut album worked wonders. They played about 250 dates and taped a show for this year's 35th anniversary season of Austin City Limits. The album hit number one one on the Americana Music Association Radio chart.
And they soon will be back with "One Foot in the Ether," due Sept. 15 on BOH Records through Redeye Distribution. "The band doesn't do things safely," explains Gordy Quist, one of the group's three front men. "Random and chance might actually be named as extra band members in the liner notes somewhere."
Quist sings along with Ed Jurdi and Colin .
"One Foot in the Ether" wasn't initially conceived as a full-length album. The band started booking short bursts of studio time in Austin while they were in town, with no producer and no expectations. As they continued deeper into the sessions, the project went from the originally planned 3 or 4 songs to 16 completed songs. "It became apparent that we had a full-length album on our hands and started honing things down to make a cohesive album," Jurdi said.
With a five-album record deal offer from one of the major-independent record labels on the table, The Band of Heathens opted to release the new album on their own BOH Records, just as they did their last self-titled studio album. Brooks explains, "In the current 'climate change' of the music business, nobody knows how it is going to work so we are not averse to trying things our own way and experimenting."
In July, the band taped Austin City Limits, an opportunity that came to them when the program's producer, Terry Lickona, first saw the group at the Americana Music Conference last September. The ACL episode also features Elvis Costello and will air Nov. 7. The band will tour Europe in fall, following a Ryman Auditorium appearance the American Music Awards on Sept. 17.
