Truly, Madly, Deadly_ The Unofficial True Blood Companion - Becca Wilcott [43]
Recognize Lucky Liquor from the opening credits? Next time you’re in Shreveport, Louisiana, be sure to stop in for a cold one. A cold brew, that is. Vamps aren’t on the menu. (Eleanor Tivnan)
Of course, the opening credits aren’t all about the visual effects. Many people love the beginning of True Blood just because of that raw, raunchy song that takes us out of our own worlds and firmly plants us in the dark, mucky recesses of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Jace Everett’s “Bad Things” is the perfect soundtrack to the world of True Blood. Jace Everett was born on January 7, 1972, in Evansville, Indiana. Growing up, he lived in Indianapolis, Carmel, and St. Louis, before moving to Fort Worth, Texas, when he was six years old. A self-taught musician, save for a few piano lessons as a child, he began to play music in his church and school before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Belmont University.
Jace Everett had two other albums under his belt, and had co-written a #1 single (“Your Man” performed by Josh Turner), when Alan Ball went cruising around iTunes in search for a placeholder song for the credit sequence for True Blood. He found “Bad Things,” and he never found anything better. Which is meant as a compliment — the song didn’t just do for what Ball needed at the time: the song came to define the show.
As all things vampiric, “Bad Things” has a past life. It was originally released on Everett’s debut album Jace Everett. Reborn via True Blood, the song won a 2009 Broadcast Music Incorporated award (cable tv category), was nominated for a 2009 Scream Award for Best Scream Song of the Year, and is an integral part of the Emmy-nominated credit sequence. Everett estimates as a result of the song’s success he receives approximately 10,000 visits a day to his MySpace page.
To take the vampire metaphor to its limit, Everett recognizes new life was breathed into his career with this recent success. Everett was at the point of desperation and considering a new career path when Alan Ball came calling. And when opportunity comes knocking, it’s best to be prepared. He called in recording artist Chuck Prophet to co-write some songs. He says he was frustrated, but hopeful that this could be his break. With the help of Prophet, who has 12 albums of his own and has played with such artists as Kelly Willis, Aimee Mann, Warren Zevon, Lucinda Williams, and Cake, they penned close to 20 songs.
In June 2009, Everett released his third studio album Red Revelations, with “Bad Things” showing up anew on the track list, sweet respite after Sony Music’s Nashville Epic imprint dumped Everett from the label after the Sony/BMG merger dropped 12 artists and 40 employees in one day. “[T]hat was a little shocking and threw me off for a little while,” Everett told CMT, “but I just kept writing and wound up making a live-in-the-studio acoustic record [Old New Borrowed Blues] that I went and toured the uk.” He was writing and booking gigs as a bass session player, playing with Trent Willmon, when the news came through that Alan Ball wanted to purchase the rights to “Bad Things.” He continues, “I was able to get some things worked out to where I could begin to go make a new record . . . It’s definitely been a game-changer, but you know, I was in the game the whole time.”
Everett was asked to perform different versions of the song, ones that were less country, ironic considering that country radio didn’t get behind the song when it was first released. Ultimately, the original recording was used in the credits, prompting some to wonder if he plans to write more tunes like it. But he says he sees “Bad Things” as a novelty song, brooding and melodramatic, but also humorous, something he thinks Alan Ball picked up on when he first heard it. “[I]f you watch True Blood, yeah, it’s about vampires, but it’s also funny as hell at times. [Alan Ball] likes that black humor . .