| The Judybats | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Genres | alternative rock, folk rock |
| Years active | 1988–1995, 2000 |
| Labels | Sire Records |
| Associated acts | Doubters Club |
| Past members | |
| Jeff Heiskell Johnny Sughrue Ed Winters Peggy Hambright Tim Stutz Ed Casper Kevin Jarvis Paul Noe Dave Jenkins Doug Hairrell Reed Pendleton Rob Bell Mike Hairrell |
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(The) Judybats were an alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, active primarily in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[1] First formed in 1988 by vocalist Jeff Heiskell and guitarists Johnny Sughrue and Ed Winters when the three were students at the University of Tennessee,[1] the band subsequently added keyboardist Peggy Hambright, bass guitarist Tim Stutz and drummer Ed Casper before signing to Sire Records in 1990.[1] The band took their name from a song written by a friend of theirs, which contained the line "punch me with a judybat" in a punning allusion to Punch and Judy shows.[1]
The band contributed a cover of The 13th Floor Elevators' "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)" to the 1990 tribute album Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson, followed shortly by their debut album Native Son. The official form of the band's name was never entirely clear — although the band was credited as The Judybats on the cover of Native Son, all of their subsequent albums listed the band's name as just Judybats, or sometimes JudyBats, although several CD singles from the later albums retained the word The.[1]
Casper subsequently left the band, and was temporarily replaced by session drummer Kevin Jarvis on their second album, Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow.[1] Following that album, Hambright and Stutz both left the band, and were replaced by Paul Noe on bass and Dave Jenkins on drums.[1] The revised lineup released the band's most commercially successful album, Pain Makes You Beautiful, in 1993, and had successful singles on college radio and adult album alternative stations with "Being Simple", "All Day Afternoon" and "Incredible Bittersweet".[1]
The lineup remained stable for the band's fourth album, 1994's Full-Empty, but the album fared poorly on the charts and the band broke up soon afterward.[1] Heiskell, Noe and Jenkins pursued a new musical direction under the name Doubters Club, releasing the album Fleur de Lisa independently in 1996 after being dropped from a development deal with Sire Records.[2]
Heiskell subsequently revived the Judybats name, with a new band lineup consisting of guitarists Doug Hairrell and Reed Pendleton, bassist Rob Bell and drummer Mike Hairrell, and released the band's final album '00 in 2000; although he did not participate in the album's recording, Sughrue rejoined the band for live performances to support the album. The reunited lineup also recorded a cover of Paul McCartney's "Love in Song" for the 2001 McCartney tribute album Listen to What the Man Said, but the band later broke up again before recording another full album.
Heiskell has since released two solo albums, Soundtrack for an Aneurism in 2006 and Clip-On Nose Ring in 2008.[3]
Heiskell acknowledged that he is gay in a 1994 interview with The Advocate,[4] but otherwise rarely spoke about his sexuality with the press, and only wrote about it indirectly in his songs, until his solo albums.[3]
A bootleg fan compilation of B-sides, rarities and live performances entitled Hold Your Horses has also been in circulation, but is not an official release by the band.
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