Tracker Pixel for Entry

Big John Bates paints Americana black

Music | November 12th, 2015

By Jamie Hutchinson

If there’s one thing Big John Bates has become known for, it’s stage performance. But not everyone wants to play the same show year after year. Once in a while, you need to shake things up and throw a little darkness out there.

The band’s latest release, “From the Bestiary to the Leathering Room,” marks more of a change for the band as they further develop the sound they’ve been working on for a few years. Similar to film scores, there’s more of an emphasis on atmosphere and the violin and cello featured in the album help generate that. Unlike John Bates’ Voodoo Dollz days, the focus is more on the music than the burlesque performances that once accompanied the band but were retired around 2010.

“We wanted the music to carry the whole show, not just the image,” John Bates says. When they first started using burlesque dancers in their live show, it was something special. Not many others were doing it. Eventually, every city had burlesque and that originality was lost. For this album, they also wanted a darker, less “boppy” sound. With that, Bates focuses less on the psychobilly sound that defines most of his back catalogue, replacing it by what upright bassist, co-writer and co-vocalist Brandy Bones refers to as Americana noir.

“That’s a pretty good description of it, I think,” Bates says. The album features Southern Gothic lyrical themes, with many tracks dealing with death, and has a more “environmental” feel to it. One of the bands biggest influences is alternative country band 16 Horsepower and the band even goes as far as covering the Denver band’s single “Black Soul Choir” on the new album, with Bones handling vocal duties. In addition, the band does their take on Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger,” a song they not only end their shows with but the album too.

“I just wanted something light to end the album with,” Bates says. “You can tell when you listen to the album and you get to that song, it’s completely different than everything else on the record.”

Most of the album was recorded on Bates’ 1970s cabin cruiser Caleuche, named after the mythical Chilean ghost ship. The inside of the boat consists of teak and hardwood floors, which fits with the band’s choice of wood instruments, but is excellent for vocals too, with Bates calling the boat the “best vocal booth ever.”

Since partnering with Bates, Bones has remained a strong presence on the band’s music and live performances. She and Bates both write the songs and take turns on lead vocals, freeing up Bates to focus more on guitar, especially when it comes to using different notes to create alternative chords between he and the cellist. As for performance, Bones is an acrobat, treating her upright bass like a balance beam as she stands on the sides of the neck without taking a break from playing.

“She’s super acrobatic,” Bates says of his musical partner and wife. Bones came from Montana where she trained as a gymnast. After arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the band is based, she taught gymnastics to the local burlesque crowd. “She just employed it while she was playing bass,” Bates says. “She was like, ‘Hey, why not?’ Right?”

Though the burlesque and psychobilly have been left behind, Bates says their change in performance and sound has been well received by audiences not just in Europe, where much of their fan base exists, but west of the Atlantic too. And while the performance is different than it used to be, he says, “It’s still a really intense show.”

IF YOU GO:

Tue., Nov. 17, 9:30 p.m.

The Aquarium (Dempsey’s upstairs), 226 Broadway, Fargo

Tickets available at ticketweb.com


Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Kooper Shagenakoopershagena@gmail.com One night, Jane Linde Capistran, associate conductor of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, sat and drank wine with her friends: “Jennifer Tackling, the associate concertmaster, and…

Friday, October 31, 5-9 p.m.Ziti’s Italian American Restaurant, 3150 Sheyenne St., Suite 170, West FargoSavor a delectable five course meal with beverage pairings. (Nonalcoholic beverages are available upon request, but must be…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Dream-factory documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe connects with a Hollywood legend in “Kim Novak’s Vertigo,” the latest in a series of features exploring the filmmaker’s many…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…