The Judybats (sometimes stylized as merely Judybats or JudyBats) were an American alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, active primarily in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. The band released three successful singles that charted on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: "Native Son", "Saturday" and "Being Simple", the latter of which peaked at No. 7.

Background

The band was formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1987 (although some sources list 1986 or 1988 The duo later met bassist Tim Stutz at a local bar called Hawkeye's Corner. Stutz, guitarist Johnny Sughrue and drummer Terry Casper had known each other since high school and had been playing music together as a trio. Peggy Hambright, who was Stutz's and Sughrue's roommate at the time, joined the band, contributing keyboards, violin and vocals. The Judybats played locally to large audiences before signing to Sire Records in 1990. The song also appeared on the band's debut album, Native Son, released the following year. The album's titular track was issued as a single and peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

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, in 1992. While recording Full-Empty, Heiskell eventually received a phone call from Froom, who said he liked the songs and expressed interest in working with the band, only to be told they were already working with Mahern. In an interview with The Advocate the following month, Heiskell acknowledged that he was gay, but otherwise rarely discussed his sexuality with the press, choosing to write about it only indirectly in his songs until his solo career. Looking back in 2023, Heiskell said, "It wasn't talked about in the open all that much back then, but more nuanced. Even so, some people expected me to come out and shout 'I'm A Gay Man!' to sell records. ... I wasn't willing to do that." They released the album Fleur de Lisa independently in 1996, after being dropped from a development deal with Sire. Wayne Bledsoe of the Knoxville News Sentinel observed that the band eschewed the "slightly folky" sound of the JudyBats for "hard-edged tunes that beg the listener to dance", and while he felt the band's hooks were "less obvious than the 'Bats at their best", he strongly praised Heiskell's voice and lyrics.

At this time, Noe and Jenkins formed a second band, Opposable Thumbs, with another Knoxville musician, Todd Steed of Smokin' Dave and the Premo Dopes. "Break My Heart" was also included in Oxford Americans annual Southern Music issue.

In 2005, another configuration of Judybats performed at the Northalsted Market Days festival in Chicago.

In 2011, the Judybats '00 track "California" appeared on the compilation album Kat Vox: Celebrating 20 Years of Timmi-Kat Records.

Post-Judybats

In 1992, former keyboardist Peggy Hambright founded Magpies Bakery in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was the owner until 2018, when she passed the business on to her niece, Elizabeth.

Jeff Heiskell has since released five solo albums, under the name Heiskell: Soundtrack for an Aneurism (2007), Clip-On Nose Ring (2008), Arriving (2015), Emotional Terrorism (2017) and Songs in the Key of H (2019). "I did not feel comfortable carrying on the Judybats name with my being the only member", Heiskell explained in 2008. "I didn't really feel that comfortable with it when the 00 record was released, either. A millionaire control freak backed that project financially, so I felt that I had to follow his lead. I follow no one's lead now."

In 2016, Heiskell performed several Judybats songs at Waynestock, a benefit concert for Girls Rock Camp Knoxville.

In 2019, Heiskell became a full-time real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace Realtors in Knoxville, Tennessee, while continuing to release original music under the name Heiskell.

In 2023, former guitarist Reed Pendleton's new band the Velvet Air released the single "Save Us", via Bandcamp.

Discography

Albums

  • Native Son (1991)
  • Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow (1992)
  • Pain Makes You Beautiful (1993)
  • Full-Empty (1994)
  • Judybats '00 (2000)

Selected compilation appearances

  • Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson (1990) – "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)"
  • Meanwhile Somewhere in the Nineties: A Knoxville Band Compilation (1992) – "Wafflehead" (previously unreleased)
  • Just Say Yes Volume VII: Just Say Roe (1994) – "What We Lose"
  • Everybody Needs Somebody promo sampler (1994) – "Just Like Life" (non-album track)
  • Out Loud: For the Human Rights of Lesbians and Gays (1995) – "My Dead Friend"
  • The Best of Mountain Stage Live, Vol. 7 (1994) – "Being Simple" (Live)
  • Listen to What the Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney (2001) – "Love in Song"