Aaron Pompey
Thanks to a pandemic that caught us all square between the nose, we’ve collectively been looking for love in all the fluffiest places. Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards found hers in a mixed pup named Piper. “Like many others, I got a pandemic pup in 2020. My friend’s blue healer/pit mix pup who had not yet been spayed got out of the yard and had a little romance with the neighbor’s chihuahua. In came Piper who is my ride or die, and one of the funniest living beings I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.”
Meanwhile, Erika’s band Heartless Bastards is having its own romance with the critics. Erika has assembled a roster of superstar musicians from acclaimed acts like Okkervil River, White Denim, Mercury Rev, and My Morning Jacket. Together, they are being hailed by the Austin Chronicle as an “improbably tight unit” delivering “fresh, interesting material.”
The release of its sixth studio album A Beautiful Life has fans swooning over its romp through French pop, Celtic folk, Space rock, Disney pop, and post-punk. Its melange of sound and style reflects the album’s spiritual and melodic links. “We’re all connected to each other,” Erika muses, “no matter what our race, religion, or the country we’re from, male or female, straight or LGBT.” Rolling Stone hails the album’s single “How Low” as “a satisfying summer song — with a deeper message in its lyrics,” and highlights its music video, which it says “juxtaposes the vacuous Instagram life with images of poverty, natural disaster, and ultimately acts of kindness.”
Heartless Bastards kicked off its US tour in September. From Stickyz in Little Rock, the band meanders over to several West Coast dates before winding back and playing its final US show at the Kessler in Dallas. Its European tour kicks off in January and will take them through the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria. Check out www.theheartlessbastards.com/tour for more info, and pick up some merch and a limited edition vinyl at https://sweetunknownrecords.com/.
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