The Band of Heathens – Live at the State Theater

August 4, 2010
7pm and 9:30pm shows
tickets $24

Once Upon a Time There Was a Band of Heathens

Seth grew up in Olympia, WA. After high school he appeared in a couple of Harlequin shows (that's Seth, in our 1993 production of Hamlet, over on the left) before graduating from TESC. He was more interested in music than theater, though, and started playing bass in local rock bands. In 2000 he moved to Austin in order to up his game in the vibrant music scene there. He quickly wound up playing seven nights a week. "It was crazy. Everybody needed a bass player, so I played constantly. I was playing in at least six bands when the Heathens happened."

Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, and Colin Brooks were all gifted singer-songwriter-musicians who were all playing every Wednesday night at Momo's for the "Good Time Supper Club". They all knew each other and backed up each other's sets. They were also all hiring the same bass player and drummer. As Seth says, jokingly, "I tell people that they decided to play together so they could save money on the rhythm section."

"Ed, Gordy and Colin were all playing backup for each other anyway, so one night we all just played together. As soon as we started, we knew we'd found something special. Somehow we've found a way to put up with each other ever since. But back then we didn't even think of ourselves as a band yet. We hadn't written anything for the band. We were just doing 'Heathenized' versions of the solo material."

But people kept asking for a recording of the band, so they decided to record a live show at Momo's. At the 2007 Austin Music Awards they won Best New Band, took 2nd place for Band of the Year. "When that happened, we all just kind of looked at each other and said, 'I guess we're a band.'"

After that, a local television station offered the Heathens a deal to film and produce a live concert at Antone's. "We went ahead with it and came up with a live CD/DVD package we were pretty proud of. But we hadn't set foot in a studio together yet. I guess its pretty unusual in this business to be releasing live albums before going into the studio."

In fact, the whole model for the band is new. "We never really looked for a label. We didn't ask anybody's permission. Instead, we put together our own team to do the things a label would normally do for us. We hired a great agent out of Nashville, a PR firm out of L.A., attorneys, the whole works. We invested in the band and made our own label and so far we are still able to pay our bills."

In 2008 they recorded their first studio album, The Band of Heathens, produced by country music icon Ray Wiley Hubbard. It reached #1 on the Americana charts, and their touring started to explode. In 2009 they released their second album, One Foot in the Ether, which they produced themselves, and which also reached #1 on the Americana charts. In December they performed on Austin City Limits, sharing the evening's schedule with Elvis Costello.

"It's been wild," says Seth. "Everywhere we go, we find people who are crazy for our music. Everywhere we play, they always want us to come back. We have pockets of rabid fans in the craziest places and it just keeps growing."

Band of Heathens Page 1
How Seth became a Heathen
On the Road
The Old Man's Perspective
Band of Heathens website: hear their music & view a clip from Austin City Limits.
Purchase your Heathen attire for the show!

Purchase tickets for the 7pm show.
Purchase tickets for the 9:30pm show.