Band of Heathens Announce Tour Dates for Upcoming Release Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son
As Band of Heathens gears up to hit the road, their latest album, Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, produced by George Reiff (Chris Robinson, Courtyard Hounds, Ray Wylie Hubbard) and set for release on March 29, 2011, finds the band in fine fighting form.
Clearly a band on the move, Band of Heathens is still riding high on the success of its last album, the #1 Americana charting, One Foot in the Ether. Band of Heathens took "Best New Band" at the Austin Music Awards and was nominated as "Best Duo or Group" at the Americana Music Awards. Along with widely acclaimed appearances at Lollapalooza and SxSW the band was also recently featured on Austin City Limits with Elvis Costello.
Top Hat Crown comes on strong with songs like "Should Have Known," which, with its funky, cool, up-beat, driving guitar riffs, bears a nodding resemblance to classic rock songs like the Gerry Rafferty-led Stealers Wheel hit "Stuck in the Middle with You." My personal favorite on the album, "Polaroid," brings to mind the great early creations of Fleetwood Mac and "Enough," features the kind of raspy, whiskey-drenched vocals usually only heard from greats like Delbert McClinton and Joe Cocker.
"The Other Broadway" slows the groove down a notch but still features strongly the kind of bluesy-rock sound heard on the tracks "I Ain't Running," and "Gravity." Full of fiery passion and blues-rich rock and roll, Band of Heathen's Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son promises to become an instant Americana classic.
The album's closing reflects the energy and angst brought on by the oil spill in the gulf and by the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. "Free Again," and the album's sole cover, the early Levon Helm classic, "Hurricane," are followed by the passionately delivered acoustic closer, "Gris Gris Satchel."
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