Those Poor Bastards are an American gothic country band based in Madison, Wisconsin. Since 2004 they have released ten full-length studio albums, six EPs 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.

Growing up, Lonesome Wyatt vaguely described his childhood as very isolated,[4] having few friends at school and "going the whole summer" without seeing them, and that his parents "were insane".[5] He attended Stoughton High School (Wisconsin),[6] 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,[7][5] although the group was revived in 2010.

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.[8] 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 gotten mud on his shoes. Wyatt has been questioned about the incident in various interviews.[9][5] The Minister veils his face in all official band photography, does not perform live and has not revealed his identity.[4] 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.
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