Warren Jackson Hearne and the Merrie Murdre of Gloomadeers

There are few things in this world that are odd enough to compare to Warren Jackson Hearne and The Merrie Murdre of Gloomadeers. Best described as gloom folk, their songs are a montage of death ballads and waltzes, sprinkled in with dirty poetry from bassist Michael "McNasty" McConnell.

This eclectic group is currently comprised of eight people who play a variety of instruments, from harmonium to concertina. The group went on tour on a school bus this past month and returned on Sunday. I was able to catch a few words with Hearne in their bus before they went on stage to play their welcome back show.

How long were you guys on tour?

I think it was like 22 days.

Where all did you guys go?

Well, we didn't go to Canada, and we didn't go to Mexico. We went to about 28 states; well we passed through, but we didn't play in 28 states. We did the loop: West Coast, down through the Midwest, East Coast and down through the South.

Wow, that's fast. Twenty-two days to do all that?

Yeah. We had some 18-hour drives in there.

So did you guys get along OK?

Yeah there was only one … actually, it wasn't a fight. Some people were being loud on the bus when we were parked in Missoula (Montana), and Mike (McConnell) was trying to sleep. He made some derogatory remarks at the people that were being loud, and then left and pitched a tent down the road by the railroad tracks. After that, he probably slept pretty soundly.

That's funny. What's the craziest thing that happened?

I almost got arrested in Athens.

For what?

Well, the story we told the police officer was that we had mixed up the plates with my Saturn and the bus. The truth was that before we left, we didn't have time to actually get plates for the bus, so I had to put my Saturn plates on. And the cop, I mean police officer, noticed it, and I almost went to jail. Thank God for my band members that are quick thinking. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it so I was like: "You know what? Here's my insurance. I need to piss." Then my band members talked him out of arresting me.

How many people were on the bus together?

It was probably an average of eight or nine at one time.

Where did the bus come from? Where did you get it?

We got this off eBay for very cheap. I won't tell the price, but for very, very cheap.

It's pretty swank. Is that a sink?

Yeah, it's a sink. It's not hooked up yet … And then a stove will go there at some point. An electric stove.

So you'll be self-sufficient? Yeah.

Does it have a bathroom in here?



No, but there will be probably for next tour.

When do you plan on going on tour again?

We'll probably do a little jog to Florida and back this winter sometime after Christmas for about two weeks. We'll go back to New Orleans. I love New Orleans.

I came back to Denton and I love Denton, but I'm ready to leave tonight after our gig and go back on the road forever. Twenty-two days, three and half weeks or whatever, it just didn't do it for me and I'll probably never get enough of it. - NT Daily