Medicine Hat (band)

The bandmembers all went to Edmonds Woodway High School together, and while at Shoreline Community College in 1991, formed a band and started playing shows around 1992 and averaged about 10 shows a month.^[1][2] The band got their name when the drummer Jason Legat talked to a venue who demanded a name for the poster and he randomly picked 'Medicine Hat' from a long list of names. The name has no connection to the town from Alberta, Canada.^[1] The group preferred performing all ages shows because the attendees were there for the music and not just drinking.^[3] The singer Sean Bates was pictured in the Rolling Stone magazine on a spread of the Seattle scene,^[1] and was noted that he managed a local record store while expressing concern about Seattle's new found hype: "I don't mind that the whole rest of the world thinks that Seattle's so big, but I really mind that Seattle thinks that Seattle is so big."^[4] Eventually, the band was managed by Dean Zelikovsky^[5] after their former manager Judy died from a stab wound inflicted by her ex-boyfriend.^[4]

Pandemonium magazine described the band's music as progressive, with a tight and intricate rhythm section, and compared them to King Crimson.^[1] Another article notes they've been compared to Fugazi, Primus, The Police, and Jane's Addiction.^[2] The group recorded their first 3-song demo at Bad Animals studio in Seattle with Don Gilmore, who recorded Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog and Sweetwater.^[1] McAllister described the band's songwriting process as "nothing is ever brought in finished. It's usually music first, then we leave the lyrics up to Sean."^[3]

One memorable show involved the band playing in Yakima, Washington at the Knights of Columbus hall. There was a lot of underage drinking and eventually the promoters said they couldn't pay the band. The band members stood their ground and apparently intimidated the promoters just enough that a rumor spread that they beat them up.^[1]

Many years after the band dissolved, Bates and McCallister got together in 2005 and formed the band C'mon C'mon that did well locally before coming to an end in 2011.^{[citation needed]} McAllister then formed the band Wizard Prison with Scott Colburn, and John Vallier. Since 2017, McAllister plays in an electric guitar ensemble called Guitar Cult,^{[citation needed]} and briefly played in the group Rosso Viti before the COVID-19 pandemic made that unfeasible.^[6] McAllister's brother Andy was involved in the group Conrad Ford.^[7] Sean Bates now does vocals for Halloqueen, a Queen cover band that performs only on Halloween.^{[citation needed]}

• Medicine Hat (1994)

• Medicine Hat (1993, EP)
• Northwest Post-Grunge (1994, compilation disc - track "I Am")