| Jeff Bates | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jeffery Wayne Bates |
| Born | September 19, 1963 [1] |
| Origin | Bunker Hill, Mississippi, USA |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | RCA Nashville, Black River Music Group |
| Associated acts | Andy Griggs Jamey Johnson Tracy Lawrence Lonestar Montgomery Gentry |
| Website | Official website |
Jeffery Wayne "Jeff" Bates (born September 19, 1963) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 2003, Bates released his debut album Rainbow Man that year. A second album, Leave the Light On, was released in 2005 on RCA. He left RCA in 2006. This album was followed by Jeff Bates in 2008 on the independent Black River Music Group. Bates' two RCA albums accounted for seven chart singles on the Billboard country charts, of which three reached top 40: "The Love Song" (his highest, at #8), "I Wanna Make You Cry" at #23, and "Long, Slow Kisses" at #17.
Contents |
Jeff Bates was born in Bunker Hill, Mississippi, a community in Marion County. He went to East Marion High School in Columbia.[2]
Before signing to a record contract, Bates co-wrote Tracy Lawrence's 2002 single "What a Memory". Bates signed to RCA Records Nashville in 2003, releasing his debut single, "The Love Song" that year. Peaking at #8 on the Billboard country charts, it was the first of three singles from his debut album Rainbow Man,[2] which also produced a #47 in its title track and a #23 in "I Wanna Make You Cry". Bates co-produced the album with David Malloy, Kenny Beard, and Scott Hendricks.
His fourth single, "Long, Slow Kisses", was a re-recording of a cut from his debut album. This re-recording was the third Top 40 hit of his career, peaking at #17 in 2005. It was also the first of four singles from his second album, Leave the Light On.[2] However, none of the other three singles from this album — "Good People", "No Shame" and "One Second Chance" — reached Top 40, and Bates was dropped from RCA's roster.
He signed to Black River Music Group in 2008 and released his self-titled third album. The album's first three singles were "Don't Hate Me for Lovin' You", "Riverbank", and "One Thing".
Jeff's second and first EP for Black River Music Group "One Day Closer" was released February 15, 2011.
In August 2006, a $3,500 guitar that was a gift to Bates from the Takamine guitar company and used in his video "One Second Chance" was stolen from Bates' garage. When Bates called the Nashville police, Det. Rick Mavity was sent to investigate. Mavity was the same officer involved in Bates' arrest. Mavity located the stolen guitar in a pawn shop and returned it to Bates.
Bates has been active in his works of compassion, collecting for organizations such as Toys for Tots and others. In 2005, a concert in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, raised $25,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief in his home area.
In May 2007, Bates married his wife, Kelly, in an outdoor ceremony. A year later, he signed to Black River Music Group and released his self-titled third album.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [3] |
US [4] |
US Heat [5] |
US Indie [6] |
||||||
| Rainbow Man |
|
14 | 117 | 1 | — | ||||
| Leave the Light On |
|
12 | 62 | — | — | ||||
| Jeff Bates |
|
32 | — | — | 37 | ||||
| One Day Closer |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [7] |
US [8] |
||||||||
| 2002 | "The Love Song" | 8 | 59 | Rainbow Man | |||||
| 2003 | "Rainbow Man" | 47 | — | ||||||
| 2004 | "I Wanna Make You Cry" | 23 | — | ||||||
| 2005 | "Long, Slow Kisses" | 17 | 105 | Leave the Light On | |||||
| "Good People" | 42 | — | |||||||
| 2006 | "No Shame" | 45 | — | ||||||
| "One Second Chance" | 59 | — | |||||||
| 2008 | "Don't Hate Me for Lovin' You" | — | — | Jeff Bates | |||||
| "Riverbank" | — | — | |||||||
| 2009 | "One Thing" | — | — | ||||||
| 2011 | "One Day Closer" | — | — | One Day Closer | |||||
| "He Wasn't Like Us" | — | — | Jeff Bates | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "I Wanna Make You Cry" | Steven L. Weaver |
| 2005 | "Good People" | Roman White |
| 2006 | "One Second Chance" | Deaton Flanigen |
| 2008 | "Don't Hate Me For Lovin' You" | Ryan Smith |
| 2009 | "One Thing" |