Vigilantes of Love
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| Vigilantes of Love | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Athens, Georgia |
| Genre(s) | College Indie/Americana |
| Years active | 1990 – 2001 |
| Label(s) | Core, Capricorn, Compass, Paste, Fundamental, Meat-market |
Vigilantes of Love was a rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee with a large number of secondary players drawn from the lush musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallonee usually sang, played lead and rhythm guitar and harmonica, although in earlier bands he played drums.
The band takes its name from the New Order song "Love Vigilantes," although their sound tends more to folk, Americana, and country rock than New Wave. Their 2001 album Summershine also showed some movement toward Britpop and R.E.M.-style college rock, which would be more fully explored in Mallonee's solo career.
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[edit] History
The band formed in 1990 in Athens, Georgia, where Bill Mallonee attended the University of Georgia. The act developed as a mostly acoustic, side-project of The Cone Ponies, the last in a long series of line-ups beginning in the mid-'80s with Windows and Walls, and Bed of Roses. For their first two recording projects -- Jugular, Drivin' the Nails -- the band performed as a trio between Mallonee, Mark Hall (accordion), and Jonathan "Dog-Mess Jonny" Evans (harmonica); the Athens, Ga. performance venues in which they were booked regularly included The Flying Buffalo, the 40-Watt Club, Rockfish Palace, Uptown Lounge, and -- their musical "home" -- The Downstairs Restaurant (now DT's Down Under). For the third and subsequent cd projects, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Billy Holmes played an increasingly important role. Later, when greater local success lead increasingly to engagements more widely in the Southeast, and with the departure of Mark Hall and Dog-Mess Jonny, the band then re-formed as a traditional touring four-piece rock band including front man Mallonee, Newton Carter, David LaBruyere, and Travis Aaron McNabb (later of Better Than Ezra).
After many years of successful touring nationally and abroad -- England and Holland being particularly fond of Mallonnee's music -- the band disbanded in 2001 as Mallonee went solo as a singer-songwriter/guitarist/raconteur playing to the renewed interest in roots-music Americana.
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[edit] Band members
Besides Bill Mallonee, other band members have included at various times:
- Chris Bland: bass
- Jacob Bradley: guitars, bass
- Newton Carter: guitars
- Chris Donohue: guitars, bass
- Jonny "Dog-Mess" Evans: harmonica
- Mark Hall: accordion
- Kevin Heuer: drums
- Billy Holmes: guitars, mandolin, keyboards, bass
- Kenny Hutson: guitars, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, Dobro
- John Keane: guitars, pedal steel
- Scott Klopfenstein: drums
- David LaBruyere: bass
- Travis Aaron McNabb: drums
[edit] Discography
- Jugular (Fingerprint Records, 1990)
- Driving the Nails (Core, 1991)
- Killing Floor (Fingerprint Records/Sky, 1992) Produced by Mark Heard and Peter Buck
- Welcome to Struggleville (Capricorn, 1994)
- Strong Hand of Love, tribute to Mark Heard, 1994
- Blister Soul (Capricorn, 1995)
- My Year in Review (1995, fan club cassette)
- V.O.L. (Warner/Resound, 1996, compilation)
- Orphans of God, tribute to Mark Heard, 1996
- Slow Dark Train (Capricorn, 1997)
- To The Roof Of The Sky (Meat Market, 1998)
- Live At The 40 Watt (Paste, 1998)
- Free For Good (A Startled Chameleon, 1998, Europe-only release)
- Audible Sigh (True Tunes, 1999, pre-release)
- Cross the Big Pond (EP) (1999, Free For Good + extra track)
- Audible Sigh (Compass, 2000, wide release)
- Audible Sigh w/ Room Despair EP (Compass, 2000, limited release)
- Electromeo (EP) (2000, limited release)
- Summershine (Compass, 2001)
- Resplendent (Audibly Live) (2002)
[edit] Video
- Fade to Black: Live at the Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenham, UK 1999 (2004?)
[edit] See also
- Bill Mallonee (including solo Discography)
- Buddy Miller - producer, Audible Sigh (1999)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Bill Mallonee Official Site
- VOL-Sounds Entire catalog on digital download
- Archives of VOL/Bill Mallonee's music and history
