By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Band of Heathens is a natural outgrowth of the Austin, Texas music scene.
The founders, four singer-songwriters, all played regular solo sets on Wednesdays at the now defunct club Momo’s, explained guitarist and vocalist Ed Jurdi.
Conversation and mutual friends brought the four together. “There was a lot of jamming and hanging out after the shows, talking about songwriters, bands ,and music we love, hanging out. … It was a really cool. A tight community of music all sprang out of that,” Jurdi said.
After weeks of sitting in on each other’s sets, they decided to join forces for a night. That and a misprint in a newspaper led to the Band of Heathens. “It was a lot of fun,” he said, and fun was the mode of operation back then.
Now 15 years and 10 live and studio recordings later, the Band of Heathens will perform at the Black Swamp Arts Festival Saturday night, Sept. 7. Their 8 p.m. Main Stage show comes during a Texas-centric night — Two Tons of Steel performs before them and Shinyribs closes the show.
“It was a special time in Austin, a quintessential time in Austin,” Jurdi remembers. “People came from all over the country to play music. … The legacy of Austin is being a spot for freaks and hippies, people a little off center ”
Jurdi made that journey himself. He grew up outside Boston, and traveled around the country playing music. There was something special about Austin.
“I’m a musician,” he said. “I want to create things. I want to be around other people interested in doing that, other people who are creative and inspiring.”
In Austin he was able to form “a little family of musicians.”
“The whole band came out of that collaborative spirit. Everyone kind of helping each other out. That was a little utopian period for us.”
At heart, Jurdi said, “we’re a rock ’n’ roll band,” though one that defies categories. The Americana troubadours can go big and loud and rock hard, or tone it down for an acoustic set.
Jurdi’s fellow Heathens are: Gordy Quist, guitars; Trevor Nealon, piano, organ, synth; Richard Millsap, drums, percussion; and Jesse Wilson, bass. They all sing.
A key to the Heathens’ success, Jurdi said, is “surrendering the notion that anyone has ownership of an idea.”
Someone may be the instigator, he said. They’ll bring in a skeleton of a song, and play it for the rest of the band, and everyone helps shape it. “It’s very open ended,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff that’s very exciting, seeing a song, a little nascent thing, coming into this full-blown realization.”
The Heathens also weave some of their favorite music by others into their sets. That includes music by The Faces, Ry Cooder, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and even Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.”
“In the tradition of a band from Texas, there’s a great deal of stewardship of other songs and other songwriters,” Jurdi said.“I love playing our material. I love playing and singing our songs,” but turning listeners onto the music the band loves “is great too.”
The Band of Heathens’ most recent album is an ambitious example of that. “A Message to the People” is a celebration of Ray Charles’ album of the same name, including his soaring rendition of “America the Beautiful.” With some studio time to burn, they recorded the entire album.
There was a time, Jurdi said, when the band prided itself on playing completely different shows every night.
But they understand that there’s a handful of their songs such as “Hurricane,” “Jackson Station,” “L.A. County Blues,” and “All I’m Asking,” that have become fan favorites.
If those fans are only seeing them every year or 18 months, the band ought to respect that and play the those favorites, he said. “We really figured out how to present the show in a way that respects the audience, respects the catalogue.”
There’s something almost spiritual in the live performances for the Heathens.
There’s not that many opportunities, Jurdi said, where “you can be completely present in the moment in a unique situation that won’t happen again. We approach every show to try to reach that point. People who love live music are very interested in the concept that on any given night, in any given moment, there’s an energy that happens, that’s impossible to replicate in any other way.”
Looking forward to performing at the Black Swamp Arts Festival, he said: “I’m excited that events like this are still taking place, people coming out see live music and enjoy each other’s company. … We’re happy to be a part of that and to help facilitate it.”
