Big John Bates began recording for Germany's Rookie Records and Glitterhouse Records in 2010 with upright bassist Brandy Bones. They moved away from their original punkabilly style to follow their rustic, southern influences with dark, rural lyrics & melodies. The band is often compared to artists as diverse as 16 Horsepower

16 Horsepower

16 Horsepower was an American alternative country music group based in Denver, Colorado. Their music often invoked religious imagery dealing with conflict, redemption, punishment, and guilt through David Eugene Edwards's lyrics and the heavy use of traditional bluegrass, gospel, and Appalachian...

, Jack White

Jack White

Jack White may refer to:* Jack White , with the rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather* Jack White , UK soldier* Jack White , German producer of disco music...

, Hank Williams III

Hank Williams III

Shelton Hank Williams, known as Hank 3 , is a neotraditional country and punk metal singer, drummer, bassist, and guitarist. In addition to his honky tonk recordings, Williams' style alternates among country, punk and metal...

, Legendary Shack Shakers and PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...

." BJB is based in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 but is constantly touring Europe and North America. They have shared stages with notable and varied performers such as Andre Williams, Wayne Hancock, Dex Romweber, Corb Lund, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight ", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played the Super Bowl XXXIII half-time show in 1999.The band was originally formed in Ventura,...

, the Supersuckers

The Supersuckers

Supersuckers are an American rock band. They are the self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World." Following the relative success of their 1997 foray into country music with the release of Must've Been High, they have also been known to play country shows under various names,...

, Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...

, the Blasters

The Blasters

The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin , with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had...

, Eric Sardinas

Eric Sardinas

Eric Sardinas is an American blues-rock guitarist born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is noted for his use of the electric resonator guitar and his live performances. He sometimes sets his guitar alight on stage and during shows....

, Southern Culture on the Skids

Southern Culture on the Skids

Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band that was formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...

, Los Straitjackets, Jay Munley, Koko Taylor

Koko Taylor

Koko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor was an American Chicago blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings....

 and Jooles Holland.



Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz were the first group to bring burlesque performers throughout Europe and North America (2002) (Dynamite Magazine). The music was released on a variety of indie European labels as noted in interviews with BJB and bassist sCare-oline have been featured in publication such as Bizarre Magazine (2005) and Tattoo Life Magazine (2010) on Europe's VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

 and National TV shows in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Television documentaries in North America on the A&E Network

A&E Network

The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...

 and Discovery Network

Discovery Network

A Discovery Network is a community that can include commercial, academic, governmental and independent entities collaborating together and coordinating their efforts to enrich society with new material goods and services, and extracting some value from doing so...

 have featured band interviews on the influences of film-makers such as Russ Meyer

Russ Meyer

Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....

 and authors Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...

 and Mickey Spillane

Mickey Spillane

Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...

 on the lyrical content and neo-burlesque styles. Their version of "Tainted Love" from the Mystiki album was also selected for the soundtrack of the French film ""Un singe sur le clos".



John Bates was the original singer and co-writer for the Canadian thrash band Annihilator

Annihilator (band)

Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history,...

 with Jeff Waters

Jeff Waters

Jeff Waters , is the guitarist and mastermind of the metal band Annihilator. He was born in and resides in Ottawa, Canada. As the main member and songwriter for Annihilator, Jeff is considered among the most influential guitarists in the world and as a top songwriter. He is also a well-known mix...

 in Ottawa, ON. As co-writer many of Annihilator's most well-known songs (Alison Hell, Human Insecticide, WTYD, I Am In Command, King of The Kill) he left to form Ligeia then Bates Motel. Moving to Vancouver, BC in the 1990s the Bates Motel project released two albums (Tales of Ordinary Madness - Tomcat Records / John Bates - Spinner Records). In 2001 lineup changes, new songwriting influences and the burlesque revolution led to the formation of Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz.

Featured Performers

• John Bates (vocal, guitars) - endorsed by Gretsch Guitars Gretsch White Falcon
  Gretsch White Falcon
  The Gretsch White Falcon is a visually distinctive guitar commercially introduced in 1955 by Gretsch. While it has seen vast and substantial changes to its body shape and features through the years, and is currently offered in several styles, the White Falcon has always maintained a striking and...
  
  
• Brandy Bones (vocal, upright bass) - endorsed by Hofner Basses Höfner
  Höfner
  Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments....
  
  
• Hagberg (drums)

Discography

Big John Bates:

2010: Bad Pussy / Scarecrow Close (Rookie Records - 7")

2010: Clockwork Blues (Frontman Records - DVD)



Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz:

2009: Bangtown (Rookie Records/Stag-o-Lee Records - CD/LP / Devil's Ruin Records - CD)

2007: Live at the Voodoo Ball (Devil Sauce Recordings - DVD)

2006: Take Your Medicine (Wolverine Records - CD)

2003: Mystiki (Devil Sauce Recordings - CD)



John Bates:

2001: Flamethrower (El Toro Records - CD / Re-release of Voodoo Bar-B-Q)

2000: Voodoo Bar-B-Q (Devil Sauce Recordings - CD)

1999: Vibro-Psychotic (Nearly Nude Music - 7")

Sidenote

• After co-writing the first two Annihilator
  Annihilator (band)
  Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history,...
  
   albums John left the band before the release of their debut album Alice in Hell
  Alice in Hell
  Alice in Hell is the first album by the Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator, released in 1989. The album was re-released twice: 1998 with 3 demo tracks as bonus tracks and again on September 9, 2003 in a two-disc compilation set along with Never, Neverland, entitled Two From The Vault...
  
  .

External links

• Big John Bates
• / Grindshow on Myspace
• Interview /Totalrock.hu/ Gabor Hun of Sledgeback
  Sledgeback
  Sledgeback is a Seattle, Washington punk rock band formed in early 2004, with Hungarian born American guitarist Gábor Szakácsi as the front man...
  
  interviewed Big John Bates