J.B. Beverley (born July 11, 1977) is an American musician. Born Joshua Beverley, Beverley goes by the nickname "J.B." which he acquired in

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. Reared in a musical household, Beverley grew up on early

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, bluegrass,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

, and various forms of old time

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

Life

Learning the drums and guitar, Beverley formed his first band The Bad Habits in 1993. An old-school punk sound, rooted in influences like The Misfits,

FEAR Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

, Black Flag, and

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

, the Bad Habits achieved notoriety on the central east coast. The band broke up in 1996, and later that year, a posthumous live compilation EP was released on Green Tree's Records entitled "Live For Some Beer Money". With the Bad Habits gone, Beverley drifted for over a year. Working odd jobs and traveling around the country. J.B. began writing old time country blues songs and

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

on street corners to get by. In 1998 he began commuting between the

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

having become front-man of

The Murder Junkies The Murder Junkies are an American punk rock band, best known for having been GG Allin's final backing band before his death. They perform songs from Allin's back catalog as well as their own original material. They are the third GG Allin bac ...

, former backing band of the late

GG Allin Kevin Michael "GG" Allin (born Jesus Christ Allin; August 29, 1956 – June 28, 1993) was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. Allin was best known for his controversial live performances ...

. In 1999, J.B. spent several months in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

fine-tuning his country blues songs, and re-learning some old standards. He re-emerged in the DC area later that year with

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

outfit The Wayward Drifters, and subsequently began touring locally and regionally with the band. In the fall of 2002, J.B. formed another punk rock band, The Little White Pills. Reminiscent of the Bad Habits, the Little White Pills were a heavier, more refined band - yet with a rough edge. The band released a self-produced CD in 2003 entitled "Live At The Velvet Lounge", did a summer tour that year, and a couple of weekenders the year after. In 2004, J.B. rejoined the Murder Junkies for two tours, and the Wayward Drifters released a self-produced CD entitled ''Highball''. J.B. also found time to record some local projects and work on new material for all of his respective bands. In 2005, the Wayward Drifters embarked on a spring tour called "The American Highball Tour", and spent most of the summer touring with friend

Hank Williams III Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his unique fusion of traditional country music, rockabilly, heavy metal and punk rock. He was the ...

. A follow-up Wayward Drifters album, ''Watch America Roll By'' was released in 2009. In the meantime, Beverley has been working on a long-awaited metal side project called GHOSTDANCE. J.B. Beverley and the Wayward Drifters continue to tour both regionally and nationally, and - as of November 2015 - Beverley is touring solo.

Discography

*"Live At The Velvet Lounge" - 2003 - self-produced CD.( The Little White Pills ) *''Highball'' - 2004 - self-released CD. (Out of Print) VERY RARE(The Wayward Drifters ) *''Live From The Heartland'' - self-released CD. (Out of Print) VERY RARE(The Wayward Drifters) *''Dark Bar & A Jukebox'' CD - 2006 - Helltrain Records(The Wayward Drifters) **''Dark Bar & A Jukebox'' Vinyl Album - 2007 - Helltrain Records(The Wayward Drifters) *''Watch America Roll By'' CD - 2009 - Helltrain Records/ Crumvillain Records (The Wayward Drifters) *''Stripped to the Root'' CD - 2013 - Rusty Knuckles Music

References

External links

Artist's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beverley, J.B. American punk rock singers 1977 births Living people The Murder Junkies members 21st-century American singers