# Jeff Bates

Jeffery Wayne Bates (born September 19, 1963) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in late 2002, Bates released his debut album Rainbow Man in May 2003. In 2005 he released his second album, Leave the Light On, on RCA. He left RCA in 2006. This album was followed by Jeff Bates in 2008 on the independent Black River Entertainment. Bates' two RCA albums accounted for seven chart singles on the Billboard country charts, of which three reached top 40: "The Love Song" (his highest, at No. 8), "I Wanna Make You Cry" at No. 23, and "Long, Slow Kisses" at No. 17.

## Biography

Jeff Bates was born in Bunker Hill, Mississippi, a community in Marion County. He went to East Marion High School in Columbia.

## Musical career
### Rainbow Man

Before signing to a record contract, Bates co-wrote Tracy Lawrence's 2002 single "What a Memory". Bates signed to RCA Records Nashville in 2003, releasing his debut single, "The Love Song" in December 2002. Peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard country charts, it was the first of three singles from his debut album Rainbow Man, which also produced a No. 47 in its title track and a No. 23 in "I Wanna Make You Cry". Bates co-produced the album with David Malloy, Kenny Beard, and Scott Hendricks.

### Leave the Light On

His fourth single, "Long, Slow Kisses", was a re-recording of a cut from his debut album. This re-recording was the third Top 40 hit of his career, peaking at No. 17 in 2005. It was also the first of four singles from his second album, Leave the Light On. However, none of the other three singles from this album — "Good People", "No Shame" and "One Second Chance" — reached Top 40, (However, "No Shame" did reach top 40 at No. 40 for Mediabase, which is used by Bob Kingsley's "Country Top 40" show), and Bates was dropped from RCA's roster.

### Jeff Bates

He signed to Black River Entertainment in 2008 and released his self-titled third album. The album's first three singles were "Don't Hate Me for Lovin' You", "Riverbank", and "One Thing". In January 2009 he released his first Christmas single "That's What Christmas Is" with Jimmy Fortune of The Statler Brothers fame singing background vocals.

### One Day Closer

Jeff's second and first EP for Black River, "One Day Closer" was released February 15, 2011.

## Personal life

After signing a contract with Warner-Chappell Publishing, Bates developed a methamphetamine addiction in late 1999. To feed the drug habit, he sold everything he owned and then resorted to stealing, including a guitar from his friend Kenny Beard. On March 14, 2001, he was arrested for drug possession and grand theft. After rehabilitation and jail time, he was given a second chance and signed to RCA. The song "One Second Chance" was inspired by this part of his life.
In August 2006, a $3,500 guitar that was a gift to Bates from the Takamine guitar company and used in his video "One Second Chance" was stolen from Bates's garage. When Bates called the Nashville police, Det. Rick Mavity was sent to investigate. Mavity was the same officer involved in Bates's arrest in 2001. Mavity located the stolen guitar in a pawn shop and returned it to Bates.
In May 2007, Bates married his girlfriend, Kelly Vaughn, in an outdoor ceremony. A year later, he signed to Black River Music Group and released his self-titled third album.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US Country | US | US Heat | US Indie |
| Rainbow Man | Release date: May 20, 2003 Label: RCA Nashville | 14 | 117 | 1 | — |
| Leave the Light On | Release date: April 11, 2006 Label: RCA Nashville | 12 | 62 | — | — |
| Jeff Bates | Release date: April 8, 2008 Label: Black River | 32 | — | — | 37 |
| One Day Closer | Release date: February 15, 2011 Label: Black River | — | — | — | — |
| The Songwriter Series | Release date: 2014 Label: Skydancer Entertainment | — | — | — | — |
| Me & Conway | Release date: October 10, 2014 Label: Skydancer Entertainment | — | — | — | — |
| Once Upon A Star | Release date: November 10, 2014 Label: Skydancer Entertainment | — | — | — | — |
| Troublemaker | Release date: November 10, 2017 Label: Skydancer Entertainment | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart ||||||

### Singles

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Year | Single | US Country | US | Album |
| 2002 | "The Love Song" | 8 | 59 | Rainbow Man |
| 2003 | "Rainbow Man" | 47 | — | Rainbow Man |
| 2004 | "I Wanna Make You Cry" | 23 | — | Rainbow Man |
| 2004 | "Long, Slow Kisses" | 17 | 105 | Leave the Light On |
| 2005 | "Good People" | 42 | — | Leave the Light On |
| 2006 | "No Shame" | 45 | — | Leave the Light On |
| 2006 | "One Second Chance" | 59 | — | Leave the Light On |
| 2008 | "Don't Hate Me for Lovin' You" | — | — | Jeff Bates |
| 2008 | "Riverbank" | — | — | Jeff Bates |
| 2009 | "One Thing" | — | — | Jeff Bates |
| 2011 | "One Day Closer" | — | — | One Day Closer |
| 2011 | "He Wasn't Like Us" | — | — | Jeff Bates |
| 2014 | "Me & Conway" | — | — | Me & Conway |
| 2016 | "That Thing We Do" | — | — | Me & Conway |
| 2017 | "Judging Judas" | — | — | Troublemaker |
| 2017 | "Troublemaker" | — | — | Troublemaker |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |||||

### Music videos

| Year | Video | Director |
| 2004 | "I Wanna Make You Cry" | Steven L. Weaver |
| 2005 | "Good People" | Roman White |
| 2006 | "One Second Chance" | Deaton Flanigen |
| 2008 | "Don't Hate Me For Lovin' You" | Ryan Smith |
| 2009 | "One Thing" | Ryan Smith |
| 2016 | "That Thing We Do" |