BIO
Born of the voices of past lives and baptized in the dust bowl dirt, the Gothic Americana music of the Heathen Apostles harkens back to a bygone chapter of American history. Using contrasting influences such as Bauhaus, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and The Pogues along with Howlin’ Wolf, Loretta Lynn (the band covers her classic Fist City) and Bessie Smith, the Heathen Apostles have created a style of music that at once conjurs both angels and demons, and will enlighten a darkened soul.
Crossing paths at a gathering one Indian summer evening, femme fatale bellower Mather Louth (Radio Noir) and rock n roll veteran Chopper Franklin (The Cramps, Mau Maus, Nick Curran & the Lowlifes) quickly uncovered a mutual appreciation for murder balladry, Americana, and memento mori. It was not long before a collaboration that sought to marry these interests in a sonic landscape, the Heathen Apostles, surfaced. The landscape was further tilled with the addition of Thomas Lorioux (Kings of Nuthin’, Legendary Shack Shakers) on bass and Luis Mascaro on violin.
Their 7 albums – Boot Hill Hymnal (2013), Fire to the Fuse (2015), Requiem For a Remix (2016), Bloodgrass Vol. 1 & 2 (2018), Dust To Dust (2019) Bloodgrass Vol. 3 & 4 (2022) and The In Between (2024) – along with their many EPs and singles (their release The Fall was named Best EP of 2018 by Folk n Rock magazine), capture the essence of the Heathen Apostles modus operandi: Southern Gothic Americana imagery surrounded by haunting, minor-chord melodies, musical influences including Gothic Roots music, Bluegrass, Blues, and Gypsy Jazz, all deftly bound together by the band’s dark and sometimes brooding sense of a bygone age.
In 2023 the Heathen Apostles signed with Rocky Road Touring (the home of artists such as Peter Murphy, Sisters of Mercy, Killing Joke, Fields of the Nephilim, and Diamanda Galas). In 2024 their agent Dana McDonald left Rocky Road but continues to represent the band, so for 2024 & 2025 the Heathen Apostles will be touring in support of The In Between, which came out on Ratchet Blade Records on July 5th, 2024.
