Vigilantes of Love is an American rock band fronted by

Bill Mallonee Bill Mallonee (born 1 January 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, most notably the songwriter and leader of Vigilantes of Love (sometimes stylized V.O.L.), an Americana, alt-country, rock band from Athens, Georgia. Early life Mallonee was ...

, with many secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the st ...

, United States. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallonee usually sang, played

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

and

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

, although in earlier bands he played

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

. The band takes its name from the New Order song " Love Vigilantes," although their sound tends more to folk, Americana, and

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, whil ...

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.

History

The band formed in 1990 in

, where Bill Mallonee attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. 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-1980s with Windows and Walls, and Bed of Roses. For their first two recording projects—''Jugular'' and ''Drivin' the Nails''—the band performed as a trio between Mallonee, Mark Hall (accordion), and Jonathan "Dog-Mess Jonny" Evans (harmonica). The Athens, Georgia, 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 albums, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Billy Holmes played an increasingly important role. Later, when greater local success led 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 (later became bass player for

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

), and Travis McNabb (later of

Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass ...

and

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall ...

). The band was signed to Capricorn Records following their third album, ''Killing Floor''. Mallonee has stated that Capricorn's lack of investment in a music video to support Vigilantes made it difficult for them to break out in the broader marketplace. With Mallonee serving as Vigilantes of Love's frontman, the band's "Double Cure" was nominated for a 1997 Dove Award in the Alternative/Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year category. The band experienced controversy in the

CCM CCM may refer to: * Cubic centimetre (''ccm''), metric unit of volume * Climate change mitigation (''CCM''), climate change topic Biology and medicine * Calcium concentration microdomains, part of a cell's cytoplasm * Photosynthesis#Carbon ...

market for the song "Love Cocoon." The song, which described marital sex, led to the band's album '' Slow Dark Train'' being dropped by some Christian bookstores. After many years of successful touring nationally and abroad — the UK and the Netherlands 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. The band reformed in November 2008. The band played its first show back together on November 20 at the

40 Watt Club The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numero ...

. That version of the band only lasted a short time before it broke up, and Mallonee returned to his solo career.

Band members

Besides Bill Mallonee, other band members have included at various times: * Chris Bland:

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Jacob Bradley: guitars, bass * Newton Carter: guitars * Tom Crea: drums * Chris Donohue: guitars, bass * Jonny "Dog-Mess" Evans: harmonica *Bob Goin: bass *Mark Hall: accordion * Kevin Heuer: drums *Billy Holmes: guitars,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, keyboards, bass * Kenny Hutson: guitars, mandolin,

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was origin ...

* John Keane: guitars, pedal steel *Scott Klopfenstein: drums * David LaBruyere: bass * Travis McNabb: drums *

Drew Grow Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas * ...

: guitars * Doug Nissley: mandolin *John Mallory: guitar, bass, vocals, songwriting

Discography

*''Jugular'' ( Fingerprint Records, 1990) *''Driving the Nails'' (Core, 1991) *''Killing Floor'' (Fingerprint Records/Sky, 1992) Produced by Mark Heard and

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his c ...

*''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) *''Compass'' (EP) (January 1, 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) *''Live at the Acoustic Cafe'' (Fundamental, 2007) *''Slow Dark Demos: Archive Series Vol. 1'' *''Live at Eddie's'' (March 1, 2009) *''Manicphaseshifter (Live @Schuba's, Chicago, IL'') (April 16, 2015) *''Need to Bleed (Expanded Edition)'' (January 31, 2018)

Video

* ''Fade to Black: Live at the Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenham, UK 1999'' (2004?)

References

External links