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The inspiration for the song itself did not come, as some have speculated, from Chris Isaak’s “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing.” In an exclusive interview with the True Blood fan site The Vault (www.trueblood-online.com), Everett concurs there’s a similar rockabilly feel, but continues to say that he wasn’t aware of Isaak’s song when he penned his own, likening it more to Steve Earle’s “Poor Boy.” He also hears a marked difference between his voice and Isaak’s, saying Isaak’s is much smoother, whereas his has a more “whiskey-soaked and sandpaper sound.” As for the song’s meaning, he goes on to explain its progression from a song of personal vengeance — Everett was owed money and fantasized about doing bad things to you — to realizing “to you” could easily be interpreted as date rape (“not good!”), to changing the lyrics to “I want to do bad things with you.” Even with the lyric change, he knows that many people still think the song is talking about doing bad things to another person. (“I’m really a very nice boy.”)

Everett considers himself to be a cross-genre artist, in perfect keeping with both Alan Ball’s vision as well as Charlaine Harris’s. Everett enjoys writing country, pop, blues, and even rock operatic tunes. It shows on Red Revelations in Everett’s vocal range, hot bass lines, and soulful stories. He describes the music off the album as cinematic and hopes his instinct to play with expectations might lead to more work in film and television. He likens his approach to a chef that only makes a marinara sauce. Rather than be known for one thing, he’d rather do it all. Among his favorite artists he cites Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, KISS, U2, Tom Waits, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, and Jay-Z, but cautions that it’s unlikely anyone will ever hear those influences in his own music. That diversity, however, is in keeping with the core theme of True Blood; it’s certain to have seeped into the infectiously catchy “Bad Things,” far more sophisticated and crafted than perhaps first meets the ear, so familiar that you’re singing along before the final bars have faded out.

But what many people want to know is, did Everett set out to write music that makes listeners want to get down — and nasty? Not intentionally, he says, although he can’t deny the sensuality inherent in his thumping bass lines. “The truth of the matter is, when I was a kid I knew all the Michael Jackson moves. Now I’m just old and insecure . . . But I love dancing. I think it’s one of the most intimate and cool things people can do together.” He also has some background knowledge of how to incite passion in an audience growing up in a devoutly religious family, something he’s since left behind. “But I still have this intrinsic desire to preach,” he confesses, “so no matter what the song is about, you’re going to get a little of the sweaty Mississippi preacher-man.”

No wonder Alan Ball couldn’t find another song or artist to sing in his hit series; it’s almost as if Everett was born — again — to do the job.

Season 1

September–November 2008

1.01 ~ Strange Love

Original air date: September 7, 2008; Written by: Alan Ball; Directed by: Alan Ball

Bill: Vampires often turn on those who trust them, you know. We don’t have human values like you.

Sookie: Well, humans turn on those who trust them too.

Vampires have “come out of the coffin,” able to subsist on a Japanese synthetic bottled blood called Tru Blood. In Bon Temps, Louisiana, Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress, meets Bill Compton, a vampire, and saves him from a pair of “vampire drainers,” people who steal vampire’s blood for resale.

From the opening scene, nothing is what it seems. The greasy goth in the Grabbit Kwik is not the real vampire, but the attractive professional-looking blonde talking to Bill Maher on tv? She is. From the first frame, we’re prepared to see the worst that vampires can do, instead we see them restrained, even when baring fangs. In this pilot episode, Alan Ball sets up vampires as an invisible minority akin to the lgbt (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,