Full Devil Jacket

History

The band Voodoo Hippies came together when musicians Josh Brown, Mike Reaves, Kevin Bebout, and Keith Foster met at a tattoo shop owned by Brown's brother in Jackson, Tennessee. Jonathan Montoya later joined as a second guitarist. While playing local shows, they caught the attention of producer Malcolm Springer, known for working with Matchbox 20 and Collective Soul. Before signing with Island/Def Jam Records, the group changed its name to Full Devil Jacket.

The name may have come from a song Brown wrote called "Full Devil Jacket" or from a magazine article. Their first release was an EP, A Waxbox to Put Your Frankenstein Head In..., in October 1999, followed by a self-titled album in March 2000. The band toured with Creed, Nickelback, and Type O Negative, played Woodstock 99, and joined the Tattoo the Earth tour alongside Mudvayne, Slipknot, Sepultura, Slayer, Drain STH, and Coal Chamber, with Metallica headlining one show.

During a tour with Creed, Brown suffered a drug overdose and left the band. An unfinished album from that period remains unreleased, with songs including "Shelter," "All Apologies," "Superdysfunctional Hero," and "Bottle." After Brown's departure, Reaves also left. Full Devil Jacket brought in new lead singers Ben Hatch and later Jamie Martin, along with guitarist Dave White, and recorded an unreleased EP as WaxBox before disbanding.

That EP featured "Shelter," "All Apologies," "Superdysfunctional Hero," and "Sober." On June 19, 2010, the band reunited for a single concert in Jackson, Tennessee, to benefit the James Michael Reaves Medical Expense Fund, which led to more shows and new recordings. James Michael Reaves died on July 27, 2011, after a battle with cancer. Jeff Caughron of Every Mother's Nightmare joined the band after Reaves' death.

Brown and Montoya later formed A New Rebel with Saving Abel's Jason Null, and FDJ members Foster and Bebout were also involved.

Members

Josh Brown nearly died of a heroin overdose in 2000. While recovering in rehab and working on the band's second album, he converted to Christianity and left the band, retreating to Jackson, Tennessee. He later formed the project Day of Fire, whose self-titled debut won a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. Day of Fire released a second album, Cut & Move, in 2006, and a third, Losing All, in January 2010, before going on indefinite hiatus in June 2010.

Jonathan Montoya worked with local Jackson projects such as One Less Reason and formed his own project Supernova Syndicate, which recorded an unreleased debut CD. He filled in as a guitarist for Saliva on a European tour and was invited to become a full-time member, but was released on August 30, 2010; as of 2015, he is back with Saliva full-time. Michael Reaves toured Europe with a band called Travisty, worked briefly with pop singer Jasmine Cain, and wrote and recorded with Randy Lovelace.

He lived in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and was in a band named 3 Legged Dog. He died from prostate cancer on July 25, 2011, at age 52. Keith Foster played drums for Danny Archer in the band Love Over Gravity around Jackson and Nashville, Tennessee. With guitarist Greg Scallions and bassist Brad Singleton, he recorded eight songs with producer Michael Wagener that were never officially released but can be found online.

Kevin Bebout works for Epiphone as Kramer Project Manager, is thanked by Jonathan Montoya in Saliva's CD liner notes for endorsing the band with custom Kramer guitars, plays bass in the Nashville-based Humorcore band Holy Crap!, and in 2016 joined pop artist Jasmine Cain's touring band.