{{Short description|American gothic country band}}
{{Infobox musical artist | name = Those Poor Bastards | image = Those Poor Bastards Madison WI 2018.jpg | alt = | landscape = yes | alias = | origin = Madison, Wisconsin, United States | genre = {{flatlist| *Gothic country<ref name=PopMatters/> }} | years_active = {{start date|2004}}–present | label = Tribulation Recording Co. | current_members = {{flatlist| *Lonesome Wyatt *The Minister }} | past_members = }}
'''Those Poor Bastards''' are an American gothic country band based in Madison, Wisconsin.<ref name=PopMatters>{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/those-poor-bastards-hellfire-hymns-2496182828.html |title=THOSE POOR BASTARDS: HELLFIRE HYMNS|last=Thanki |first=Juli |date=7 February 2008 |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=2022-11-20 |quote=This band makes Gothic Country at its apocalyptic best. [...] Those Poor Bastards can stand on their own as pioneers in the fast-growing Gothic Country subgenre.}}</ref> Since 2004 they have released sixteen full-length studio albums and six EPs,<ref name=WebsiteDiscography>{{cite web|url=https://www.thosepoorbastards.com/artists/those-poor-bastards/discography-lyrics|title=Official Website Discography|date=25 January 2013 |accessdate=June 14, 2018}}</ref> and have toured in both North America and Europe.
The band is composed of Lonesome Wyatt (vocals, guitar) and The Minister (banjo, bass, percussion, backing vocals). They are secretive and reveal very little information about themselves.<ref name=GothicCountrySE>{{cite web|url=http://www.gothiccountry.se/articles/midwest/those-poor-bastards.html|title=Those Poor Bastards|work=The Swedish Institute of Gothic Country|date=March 21, 2014|accessdate=June 15, 2018}}</ref>
==Background== Lonesome Wyatt vaguely described his childhood as very isolated,<ref name=NavajoPost2014>{{cite web|url=http://thosepoorbastards.com/pdf/tpb_navajo_post.pdf|title=Halloween Is Here... So Are Those Poor Bastards|work=Navajo Nation News|date=October 31, 2014|accessdate=June 14, 2018|author=Kody Dayish}}</ref> having few friends at school and "going the whole summer" without seeing them, and that his parents "were insane".<ref name=TheMick>{{cite web|url=http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/the_mick_25_tpb_article.pdf|title=The Mick 25|date=2006|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref> He attended Stoughton High School (Wisconsin),<ref name=Classmates>{{cite web|url=https://www.classmates.com/people/Wyatt-Hellickson/599637511|title=Wyatt Hellickson from Stoughton High School - Classmates|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref> graduating in 1997. Inspired by Nick Cave and Johnny Cash, he began to record music in his parents' basement, where he began a solo gothic folk project called Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks before disbanding it in 2002,<ref name=ReggiesLive>{{cite web|url=https://www.reggieslive.com/band/lonesome-wyatt-and-the-holy-spooks/|title=LONESOME WYATT AND THE HOLY SPOOKS - Reggies Chicago|work=Reggies Chicago|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref><ref name=TheMick>{{cite web|url=http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/the_mick_25_tpb_article.pdf|title=The Mick 25|date=2006|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref> although the group was revived in 2010.
== History == While looking for a band name in the early 2000s, Wyatt discovered the phrase "those poor bastards" in a book, and decided to use it as the name for his band formed with another unidentified member known as The Minister.<ref name=MetalHorizons>{{cite web|url=https://www.metalhorizons.com/2013/04/interview-time-with-lonesome-wyatt.html|title=Interview time with Lonesome Wyatt|date=April 11, 2013|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref> In late 2005, his father was alleged to have contacted him for fear that he was a werewolf because he could not remember where he had gotten mud on his shoes. Wyatt has been questioned about the incident in various interviews.<ref name=BlackGate>{{cite web|url=https://www.blackgate.com/2013/08/08/an-interview-with-lonesome-wyatt-of-those-poor-bastards/|title=An Interview With Lonesome Wyatt of Those Poor Bastards|date=August 8, 2013|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref><ref name=TheMick>{{cite web|url=http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/the_mick_25_tpb_article.pdf|title=The Mick 25|date=2006|accessdate=September 27, 2021}}</ref> The Minister veils his face in all official band photography, does not perform live and has not revealed his identity.<ref name=NavajoPost2014>{{cite web|url=http://thosepoorbastards.com/pdf/tpb_navajo_post.pdf|title=Halloween Is Here... So Are Those Poor Bastards|work=Navajo Nation News|date=October 31, 2014|accessdate=June 14, 2018|author=Kody Dayish}}</ref> He has, however, played live before [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbom5iProCY as seen in this footage] as well as older official photos.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-01-24 |url=http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/learn.html |access-date=2024-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124235052/http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/learn.html |archive-date=2007-01-24 |title=<--= Those Poor Bastards =--> }}</ref> He also does not wear a veil here. For live performances, Wyatt performs with a third musician, Vincent Presley, on drums, Moog, and keyboard. At live shows, Presley is known to play the Moog or keyboard with drums simultaneously.
Their song "Pills I Took" was covered by Hank Williams III on his landmark 2006 release, ''Straight to Hell''.
== Musical style and influences == Those Poor Bastards has been described as gothic country.<ref name=PopMatters/> The band performs a style that derives from gothic rock and traditional Americana, often with themes in the genre of murder ballads. Their lyrics focus on themes of sin, damnation, misery, religion and death.<ref name=PopMatters/><ref name=RueMorgue2012>{{cite web|url=https://www.thosepoorbastards.com/those-poor-bastards-in-rue-morgue-magazine/|title=West of Hell: A new album and novel from country doom due Those Poor Bastards revels in ole timey grime and gore|date=November 2012|accessdate=June 15, 2018|work=Rue Morgue Magazine|author=April Snellings}}</ref><ref name=Kerrang2019>{{cite web|url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/9-artists-bringing-darkness-and-evil-to-old-genres|title=9 Artists Bringing Darkness and Evil to Old Genres|work=Kerrang|author=Chris Krovatin|date=March 31, 2019|accessdate=March 31, 2019}}</ref>
==Discography== ;Studio albums *''Songs of Desperation'' (2005) *''Hellfire Hymns'' (2007) *''The Plague'' (2008) *''Satan Is Watching'' (2008) *''Gospel Haunted'' (2010) *''Behold the Abyss'' (2012) *''Vicious Losers'' (2014) *''Sing It Ugly'' (2016) *Necrosphere (2016) *''Inhuman Nature'' (2018) *''Evil Seeds'' (2019) *''Old Time Suffering'' (2021) *''God Awful'' (2022) *''Back to the Primitive'' (2024) *Black Tongue (2026)
'''EPs''' *''Country Bullshit'' (2004) *''Pills I Took'' (2006) (split with Hank Williams III) *''Black Dog Yodel'' (2009) *''Abominations'' (2009) *''Gospel Outtakes'' (2010) *''Is This Hell?'' (2011)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.thosepoorbastards.com/}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Musical groups from Wisconsin Category:Gothic country groups