Mark Flanagan welcomed Erika Wennerstrom and Beth Harris of the Heartless Bastards to the KGNU studio ahead of their Colorado shows. The band, known for their blues-rock foundation and eclectic musical influences, performed a few live songs and discussed the evolution of their sound and lineup. Erika shared the band’s origin story, including a pivotal moment involving The Black Keys and a demo rescued from a junk email folder. They also reflected on the creative process behind their most recent album, A Beautiful Life, and hinted at a new project in the works. You can catch Heartless Bastards live Friday night at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for a KGNU Presents show, and Thursday evening at Old Town Square Stage in Fort Collins as part of the Thursday Night Live concert series. (Studio Session: 7/17/25)
Mark Flanagan: We’ve been listening to a few tracks from the Heartless Bastards’ latest release, A Beautiful Life. I’m fortunate enough to have two members of the Heartless Bastards here in the studio today. I just want to say hello to Erika Wennerstrom and Beth Harris.
Erika Wennerstrom: Hi, how are you doing?
Mark Flanagan: How’s it going for you today?
Erika Wennerstrom: Yeah, I’m happy to be here. We’re looking forward to playing in Colorado over the next couple of days.
Mark Flanagan: Yes, and we are psyched to have you! KGNU is presenting the Heartless Bastards tomorrow at the Gothic Theatre in Denver. And tonight, you’re going to be playing the Thursday Night Live concert series at Old Town Square Stage in Fort Collins—is that correct?
Erika Wennerstrom: Yeah.
Mark Flanagan: Super. Alright, just to let our listeners know: Heartless Bastards is a blues-rock-influenced band formed in 2003 in Cincinnati by Erika—who you just heard—who is the vocalist, songwriter, and the only constant member of the band.
I understand there’s an interesting origin story involving a member of The Black Keys passing along a demo to a record label. Is that right?
Erika Wennerstrom: Yeah. I gave him a demo.
We did a show with The Black Keys in Cincinnati. We ended up playing in Akron, Ohio, for like five people. When we got there, the owner said, “You know, we didn’t have any pre-sale tickets. I’ll just pay you, and you can head on to the next city—you don’t even have to play.”
We were a newer band, and I really wanted tight live sets. I thought every show, even with five people, was an opportunity to grow and get tighter.
So I asked if we could still play, even if nobody showed up. There were maybe four or five people—one really drunk couple asking if we could play Rolling Stones covers. But Patrick Carney walked in partway through the set. I had recognized him from a show a month or two earlier in Cincinnati.
He stayed for the set, and afterward we had some beers and hung out. I gave him the demo, and it turned out he recommended us to Fat Possum. But I wasn’t getting the emails—it was going to my junk mail. I just assumed my email knew what was junk and what wasn’t.
Mike—my ex-boyfriend, who was in the band at the time—checked the junk mail one day and found emails from Fat Possum. I had put my number on the demo, but it was a landline, and I had moved. I was so happy Mike checked the junk mail.
Mark Flanagan: That is an amazing story—full of coincidences and lucky happenstance. I love it.
Erika Wennerstrom: My blessing in life—I always check my junk mail now. Maybe not daily, but I definitely check it.
Mark Flanagan: That’s fantastic. Alright, I’m going to let you get into a song in just a moment.
Those chance moments led to their debut album Stairs and Elevators in 2005. Their latest release, A Beautiful Life, came out in 2021. I’m not sure what Erika and Beth have up their sleeves for us today, but I’m looking forward to it.
Erika Wennerstrom: Okay, this is a song from the new album called A Beautiful Life.
(plays music)
Mark Flanagan: Wonderful. Thank you so much for that—such haunting lyrics, and your voice is just perfectly haunting as well.
Erika Wennerstrom: Thank you.
Mark Flanagan: I’ve actually been listening to A Beautiful Life a bit, and I’ve noticed that it’s so diverse. Each song sounds so different.
Earlier, I played Went Around the World followed by The Thinker. I love the variety.
You came to this album after Restless Ones in 2015. What happened in those years that brought you back into the studio, and what influenced this latest release?
Erika Wennerstrom: We went on hiatus in 2016. Then I got really inspired and wrote an album called Sweet Unknown, which was a full-band-style album under my own name. That came out in 2018, and I did quite a bit of touring on that for a couple of years.
Then I worked on A Beautiful Life, which I actually finished in January 2020. The idea was to release it that year, and then—well, I’m sure we all know what happened.
So it ended up coming out in fall of 2021.
Beth had joined me on harmonies for a holiday show several years before, and then she started singing with me when my solo album came out. We’ve been touring together ever since.
Mark Flanagan: So you two have a history?
Erika Wennerstrom: Yeah, we know each other from when I lived in Cincinnati. We did some holiday shows together.
At one point, Heidi—who was singing harmonies with me—had a child and couldn’t tour anymore. So we did those holiday shows, and I thought, “Beth’s a great singer.”
She came in and slayed it. We didn’t even rehearse. She just came in and nailed it.
Mark Flanagan: That’s fantastic. Is this your first tour after releasing A Beautiful Life with the full band?
Erika Wennerstrom: Well, the album came out in September 2021. We started touring that fall and have done shows here and there since.
We’ve kind of wrapped up the main touring for A Beautiful Life, but we’re doing select shows—which is what brought us to Colorado.
We’ve been working on a new album—hopefully it’s not too far off.
Mark Flanagan: So will the audience tonight and tomorrow hear anything from the new album?
Erika Wennerstrom: I’m not quite ready. I’m still sorting it out. I’ve got a lot of songs, but I’m missing lyrics here and there.
We’ve been doing some demos in Fort Collins. I came a few days early to work on that. Some of it’s experimental—like I had a ballad I wrote in 2020 that’s now an upbeat rock song.
Same melody, just reimagined. I’m taking my time with it. I wish I were more prolific, but I like to give it my all. That way, when I release it, I feel confident, no matter what people think.
There’ll always be people who love it and people who don’t. But if I love it, that’s what matters.
Mark Flanagan: Well said. And from what I’ve heard, your slow, careful process has served you very well.
Erika Wennerstrom: Thank you.
Mark Flanagan: Alright, let’s give you another chance to play a song.
Erika Wennerstrom: Okay, we thought we’d share an older one.
(plays music)
Mark Flanagan: Thank you. Out in the Sweet Unknown.
As we’ve discussed, this album A Beautiful Life has so many different vibes. I listened to one track that felt like punk, another like a ballad.
Your website lists some really eclectic influences—French pop, Celtic folk, space rock, symphonic pop, Disney scores, post-punk. That’s quite a list. Can you talk more about those inspirations?
Erika Wennerstrom: I feel like I’m influenced by the world around me. I have so many musical interests.
There’s a Persian setar on the album. Led Zeppelin’s always been a big influence, as well as Pink Floyd.
I’ve always loved Stan Getz and… I’m probably saying it wrong—Astrud Gilberto. I love Brazilian music—especially that old-school bossa nova.
Francoise Hardy, too. A lot of world music influence made its way into the album.
I was also trying to tap into my inner child. I remember We Are Siamese from Lady and the Tramp. The percussion on that inspired When I Was Younger, which has a music box piano sound.
But I also love old-school punk rock, like Iggy and the Stooges. It’s really all over the place.
What ties it all together, though, is my voice. I always worry if the songs are too different from one another, but somehow, my voice makes it cohesive.
Mark Flanagan: There’s no doubt about that. Your voice is the thread that ties it all together, and you bend it beautifully to match each song’s vibe.
Alright, we’re going to do just one more song here with Erika and Beth in the studio. Afterward, I’ll give away a pair of tickets to the Gothic Theatre show in Englewood.
They’ll also be performing tonight at Thursday Night Live in Fort Collins. These are full band shows. How many members?
Erika Wennerstrom: Six of us.
Mark Flanagan: Fantastic. That’s growth!
Erika Wennerstrom: Yeah, we started as a three-piece, and now we’re six.
Mark Flanagan: That reminds me—my friend Steve, also a DJ here, said he saw you perform outside Bart’s CD Shack (now Paradise Found) in Boulder years ago—maybe 2015 or 2017. Do you remember that?
Erika Wennerstrom: I’m trying to picture it. I’m sure we played in-store at Boulder. That does ring a bell.
This is actually the 20th anniversary of my first album’s release. We’ll be reissuing it on vinyl with Fat Possum later this year to celebrate.
If I was a three-piece, that would’ve been in the first couple of years—maybe 18 or 19 years ago.
Mark Flanagan: Maybe our dates are off—memory’s a tricky thing.
Erika Wennerstrom: Oh yeah. It’s all a blur now.
Mark Flanagan: Alright, I’ll let Erika and Beth go into a third and final song, after which we’ll give away some tickets to the Gothic Theatre show in Englewood. What are we going to hear now?
Erika Wennerstrom: We’ve been doing a lot of promo for A Beautiful Life, but we thought it’d be fun to play an older song—this one’s called Sway.
(Performs “Sway”)
(plays music)
Mark Flanagan: Alright. Thank you so much. Soulful vocals there from Erika Wennerstrom, beautiful harmonies from Beth Harris—two members of the Heartless Bastards. You can catch them tonight at Thursday Night Live on the Old Town Square Stage in Fort Collins, and tomorrow night for a KGNU Presents show at the Gothic Theatre in Denver.
Thank you both for being here today.
Heartless Bastards: Thank you so much for having us.
Mark Flanagan: It’s been a great pleasure. We look forward to seeing you tonight and tomorrow night with the full band.
