Pat Gossan: Vocals and Keyboards
Pat Gossan, Vault, Liberty, and Rhino recording artist, was a founding member of Seattle’s legendary rock band “The Floating Bridge”, which released two albums internationally and co-billed with such artists as the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Greatful Dead, Moody Blues, and B.B. King among others. In the 1970’s, Pat joined Warner Brothers recording artist Doug “The Ragin Cajun” Kershaw, touring nationally which included a performance on the award winning PBS show “Austin City Limits”. After moving to the Bay area, Pat joined forces with members of John Lee Hooker’s band to form “Two Trains Running”, a band that released one album. Upon his return to Seattle in the mid eighties, Pat joined the band “Freddie and the Screamers”, playing such venues as the Tacoma Dome with Def Leppard and the Gorge with Greg Allman. The band also recorded four songs for and appeared in TV’s Emmy Award winning “Northern Exposure.” Pat has been with the Vududes as a songwriter, keyboardist, cofounder and vocalist since 1997.
Major Darst: Bass
Domo Records recording artist Major Darst is originally from Morton, Illinois but moved to Seattle in 1981. Major has been playing bass since 1971 and has been a member of numerous Seattle bands such as; The Marcia Nikolich Group, Risk, The Tornados, The Boogie Men, Santo Gallagher, The Bernoulli Brothers, Major Major, Bluetown, Giant, Black Cat Bone, The Dana Osborn Group, and Fat Cat. Influenced initially by pop groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Major soon developed a taste for jazz and became greatly influenced by jazz greats such as; Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorious, Ron Carter and Paul Chambers. Major has also been particularly influenced by the bass solo stylings of Scott LaFaro and Mark Egan. Major is an original member of the Vududes and has played with group since 1997. Major also plays acoustic guitar and has recently released several albums of solo acoustic guitar songs; “Songs From Mill Hill” (2021) and "Twilight At Tula's" (2023).
Dan Newton: Guitar
Dan Newton (vocals, guitar, steel and slide guitar, keyboard, accordion, songwriter) has been playing blues, soul and R&B in Oregon, Texas, Montana, California, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia and Washington state for many years, sharing the stage with Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker, Jo & the Jo-Matics, Terry Robb, Backstreets, Royal Blue, the Crossroads Band, the Woodpeckers, the Blue Flames, Margo Tufo, Mel Solomon, LJ Porter, Miz Dee, Junior Watson, Vadim Ivascheno, Mark Dufresne, the Seattle Houserockers, Debbie Davies and many others. He has played at a variety of major music festivals, including Bumbershoot and Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival. He studied at North Texas State University (“the college of musical knowledge”) and has been featured in a variety of recording projects. A “happenin’” player (Miz Dee) and soulful singer, he also writes compelling songs. He especially enjoys playing with his good friends in the Vududes.
Jim Busch: Drums
Jim Busch has been playing since 1963 when like so many of his peers, he saw the Beatles with Ringo Starr. This watershed event led him to form his first band, the Rivals and he has been playing and collecting drums ever since. He has played and recorded with Northwest legends Rich Dangel, the Sonic's Gerry Roslie and Frank Zappa alum Bobby Sumpner. Before finding a home with Fat Cat, Jim played Rock,R&B and Blues with the Del-Psychics, Major Major, the Palmolives (with Hans Ipsen)and the Dean Reichert Band. Other prominent musicians Jim has played with include pianist David Lanz, Mark Riley, Scotty Harris and Lisa Ramaglia, Pat Hewitt, Isaac Scott, Joe and Jay Johansen, and John Goforth. Jim's laidback,no- nonsense style and deep, funky groove compliment The Vududes rich, soulful sound perfectly. Jim is an original member of the Vududes and has played with group since 1997.