US desert metallers Blue Heron share thunderous Clutch cover off new »Emulations« record on Blues Funeral Recordings; European tour starts this week!
Albuquerque, New Mexico based desert metal band Blue Heron premiere a music video for Clutch cover »The House That Peterbilt« taken from their upcoming album, »Emulations«, due out on October 10th, 2025 via Blues Funeral Recordings.
Tracklist:
01. Grey (Fudge Tunnel cover)
02. Marigold
03. The House That Peterbilt (Clutch cover)
04. Find Away (Floor cover)
05. Everything Fades (Live at KUNM)
06. Day Of The Comet (Live at KUNM)
07. Futurola (Live at KUNM)
08. Swansong (Live at KUNM)
Courtesy of Purple Sage PR:
US desert rockers Blue Heron share a scorching hot new video with their raucous cover of Clutch’s »The House That Peterbilt«, taken from their new record »Emulations«, out this October 10th through Blues Funeral Recordingsand coinciding with the start of their first European tour ever!
Their new release »Emulations« was conceived in early 2025, as Blue Heron prepared to record their rendition of the Nine Inch Nails classic »Head Like A Hole« for the forthcoming Magnetic Eye Records compilation »Best Of NIN Redux«. Pairing four new studio tracks – including sledgehammer covers of Clutch, Floor and Fudge Tunnel – with live recordings from a session at Albuquerque’s KUNM radio station, this seismic new offering from the mighty foursome is an unrelenting charge of gritty vocals and punishing riffs that simply takes no prisoners.
️ Watch Blue Heron’s new video »The House That Peterbilt« ️
About covering this Clutch classic, vocalist Jadd Shickler comments: “When we decided to record some cover tunes, this one was a no-brainer. We’ve been playing it live for years, and Chav and I are Clutch fans going way back. We had a chance to tour opening for them over 20 years ago and it was a phenomenal experience, playing to their killer fanbase every night and then going out in the crowd to watch one of our favorite bands absolutely destroy. Their influence on what we do is pretty undeniable, so it feels great to give them a proper tribute for everything they’ve given to the heavy underground over the past three-plus decades!”
Blue Heron are set to bring their blistering desert rock to European stages for the first time in their career, including appearances at Desertfest Belgium and Keep It Low Festival and shows alongside the likes of Gnome, Mephistofeles and High Desert Queen.
Blue Heron European tour 2025:
Oct 10 – Karlsruhe (DE) Alte Hackerei w/ High Desert Queen
Oct 11 – Munich (DE) Keep It Low Festival
Oct 12 – Arnstadt (DE) Rockjungfer
Oct 13 – Bamberg (DE) Live Club w/ Submarin On Mars
Oct 14 – Hagen (DE) Werkhof Hohenlimburg w/ Stargo
Oct 15 – Rotterdam (NL) Roodkapje w/ Mephistofeles, High Desert Queen
Oct 16 – Tilburg (NL) Little Devil w/ Gnome, Tankzilla
Oct 17 – Trier (DE) Rothaus
Oct 19 – Antwerp (BE) Desertfest Belgium
Blue Heron »Emulations« out October 10th on Blues Funeral Recordings (cassette/CD/digital): Bandcamp preorder / Label preorder
Surrounded by endless horizons, Blue Heron formed in 2018 out of a compulsion to fill the vastness with massive volume, saturating their piece of desert with rolling, thunderous riffs, drums that pummel and swing, deep, thrumming tones and vocals that rip and roar.
Their guitarist and singer were founding members of Spiritu, possibly Albuquerque, New Mexico’s first desert rock band, whose brief burn in the early aughts included a Jack Endino-produced LP, a European tour with Clutch, Spiritual Beggars and Dozer, and a compilation appearance alongside Entombed and Mastodon. Their debut LP »Ephemeral« arrived in May of 2022 via Kozmik Artifactz in Europe and Seeing Red Records in the USA. Substantial appreciation in the underground led to performances at Ripplefest Texas and Monolith On The Mesa and opening slots for The Well, Elder, Black Mountain, Ruby The Hatchet, Howling Giant, Heavy Temple and The Obsessed, along with a swath of positive reviews throughout the heavy media.
In May 2023, Blue Heron dropped three new tracks on a split LP with friends and fellow southwestern riff-purveyors High Desert Queen for Ripple Music’s »Turned To Stone« series, with cover art by award-winning comic and poster artist Johnny Dombrowski. The bands embarked on a short tour in August 2023, before they set to work on their next full-length.
Released in the fall of 2024, their last album »Everything Fades« expands on their unyielding desert sound with a new slab of propulsive, sun-scorched riff-heaviness. It landed at #6 on Worship Metal’s 50 Best Stoner and Doom Albums of 2024, #8 on The Obelisk’s Best of 2024 Year-End Poll, and #13 on the Doom Charts Top 100 Albums of 2024. The record was described as “rooted in the mood and verve of the High Desert” by Doomed & Stoned and “an emotionally charged and truly breathtaking style of down-tuned weedian magic” by Outlaws Of The Sun.
Blue Heron is:
Mike Chavez – Guitars
Ricardo Sanchez – Drums
Steve Schmidlapp – Bass
Jadd Shickler – Vocals
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well