The genre-bending Big John Bates Band will bring some Southern Gothic sounds to Red Deer’s The Vat on Saturday.
Bates is an unlikely purveyor of acoustic music, as he founded and fronted the metal band Annihilator.
“It’s safe to say no one saw this dark horse coming,” states his promotional material. But in the last few years, the singer/guitarist joined up with stand-up bassist Brandy Bones, cellist Leanne Laboucher, and percussionist JT Massacre to create an atmospheric sound that’s described as “awe-inspiring, bass contorting, stage-jumping, sparks-a-flying. (It will) pull your heart into your gullet.”
The band’s 2012 digital EP Headless Fowl was described as “rustic punk,” while its follow up, the Battered Bones LP, earned the moniker “Americana Noir.”
The Big John Bates Band’s latest seven-inch vinyl Black Timber Root is a teaser for another full upcoming LP. From the Bestiary.
Tickets to the show are $15 in advance from the venue, or $20 at the door.