Biography
Comprising the songwriting trio of Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites), Eric Ambel (the Del Lords, Eric Ambel & Roscoe's Gang), and Terry Anderson (Woods), together with their hidden asset Keith Christopher (Billy Joe Shaver), the Yayhoos launched their bid for global domination in 1995. Success on that scale proved elusive. Following a short Southern run alongside Drivin' N' Cryin' that featured a greatest-hits set, the group assembled a collection of swaggering rock songs for pitching to labels. During 1996 they crisscrossed Europe and the U.S. behind Baird's Buffalo Nickel while also placing tracks on various compilations, among them "California" on East Side Story, "Highway Junkie" on Rig Rock Deluxe, and "Tumblin' Dice" with Johnny Copeland on Paint It Blue: Songs of the Rolling Stones. Major-label feedback cited an excess of vocalists—three in one band was deemed too many, though the actual count was four—while adding that mature, bearded rock performers fell outside MTV's preferred image. The Yayhoos issued Fear Not the Obvious in 2001. Five years afterward they delivered Put the Hammer Down and kept touring.