For you history buffs, Houston was founded in 1836 by the Allen brothers when they set up a small dock on the Buffalo Bayou outside of a German community named Harrisburg. The Allen’s would buy cotton from farmers and send it by barge down the bayou and through Galveston Bay to the Port of Galveston, saving farmers several days of travel time.

In 1854 the Allens donated a city block to be used as a produce market, subsequently known as Old Market Square. Between the 1960’s and the 1980’s there were numerous music venues in the area including Wrecks Bell’s first location of the “Old Quarter Acoustic Café” and “La Bastille”, attracting artists like Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Winter and Vince Bell.

Today the Square is surrounded by renewed venues, bars and restaurants in historic old buildings. In the square itself, Houston original Greek restaurant, Niko Niko’s, has a walk up cafe set up with a stage and a pleasant grassy spectators area. This was the site picked to introduce Houston to the full band new incarnation of the Band of Heathens.

Besides, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist, the band features Trevor Nealon on keyboards and Richard Millsap on drums. They have a rotating bass position that for this evening was filled by Houstonian, Scott Davis. The show kicked off with the implied title track to the latest album, “Sunday Morning Record”, “Records in Bed”, featuring Ed and Gordy swapping leads, each brandishing a bottleneck slide.

While the show included many new numbers from the latest disc, The BoH boys didn’t want to leave any of the old fans behind and sprinkled the show with old favorites like “Rehab Facility” and Hunter Thompson tribute “L.A. County Blues”. The full band could pull off the subtle New Orleans rhythm of “Walking and Talking” giving the song the full effect that it would miss in the acoustic shows. Davis rendered a heavy bass beat on “Second Line” as though he were already a formal part of the band. Trevor added some nice organ on “Free Again” and Ed Jurdi reminded me one more time just how great a guitarist he is with “Shake the Foundation”.

One of the big tests for the new line up was how they pulled off the traditional work song, “No More Cane on the Brazos”. Each member of the band (including Scott Davis) took a turn at the lead vocals as they moved through the song, sending an implied call for a sing-a-long from the audience, which was promptly forthcoming. Trevor played organ with his left hand and piano with his right, concurrently, showing off his years’ experience as a performing keyboardist. If “No More Cane…” is the test, the new Heathens passed with flying colors.

Ed Jurdi took his soulful vocals out for a spin on “Right Here with Me” and “Don’t Call on Me”. He and Gordy teamed up for some fantastic double lead vocals on “One More Trip” and again on “Hurricane” while switching off some impressive lead guitar licks. The band came out for an encore of “Bessie Smith”, a tribute to the old blues singer, again featuring Ed and Gordy with the dual vocals and acoustic guitar strumming in perfect time.

The Heathens drew quite a diverse crowd and throughout the evening they attracted some very animated dancers and curious by-standers. During a great deal of the show, the dancers were almost as entertaining as the band.

I see that the Band of Heathens will be playing Fitzgerald’s on December 21st, as well as numerous other dates around the country and state over the next few months. If you were ever a fan before, I’d venture to bet that you still will be in spite of the personnel changes. Get out and see them. Ya’ll have fun. We do.