bonnaroo 2009

The Heartless Bastards' story starts in Dayton, Ohio, where Wennerstrom found the name on a multiple choice video trivia game at a bar. As a songwriting teenager during a time when Guided by Voices and Brainiac were packing local bars and three of The Breeders were still in town, Wennerstrom used to sneak into clubs to check out the scene. "I would just see those people—my music heroes—hanging out at the bar like everyone else," she remembers. "I could see myself in them. It gave me inspiration to do my own thing."

Composed of brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio, the Knux are an alternative rap duo who are musicians as well as singer/rappers. Born in New Orleans yet displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the musically schooled brothers began creating a stir nationally in late 2007 when they were the opening act for Common on his Finding Forever tour. Dressed in throwback Adidas zip-ups, fat gold chains, and altogether atypical contemporary rap attire, the Knux performed with a live band (the Symetrics) and DJ (DJ Cobra) and frequently left crowds puzzled and occasionally booing.