The Band of Heathens have announced that Colin Brooks, one of the Austin band’s three founders and frontmen, has decided to leave “to explore other interests”.
 
Brooks founded the band in 2006 along with Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist, and the three have shared the songwriting and lead singing, supported by bassist Seth Whitney and drummer John Chipman. They have made three studio albums, most recently Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster’s Son.
 
“Colin has been an integral part of The Band of Heathens family from the beginning, and his musicianship, songwriting and presence will be missed,” the band said in a statement issued today.
 
Brooks will be with the band for their tour of Denmark that starts later this week, and for further shows in Texas at the end of the year.
 
Before he joined the Band of Heathens, Brooks made two solo albums, and he has continued to develop other musical strings while playing with the Heathens. Among other activities, he co-produced Carrie Elkin’s latest album, Call It My Garden.
 
In an interview with Backroads last year, Brooks described working in the three-headed format of the Band of Heathens as “an exercise in humility”.
 
“It’s a wonderful exercise, quite like meditation, where you have to accept what is. It not only strips you of your ego, or your ability to control everything, but it’s a collaboration, which makes it a wonderful thing. It doesn’t always go how I think it should – it goes better,” he added.
 
The Band of Heathens on Backroads.