[1][2] Founder members of The Slaughtermen were Rob Eastcott (piano), Mark Ferrie (bass guitar, vocals), Jans Friedenfelds (aka Johnny Crash, drums; ex-JAB, Models, Sacred Cowboys), Pierre Jaquinot (guitar), Peter Linden (pedal steel) and Ian Stephen (vocals, keyboards).
The Slaughtermen gained a following playing revved up versions of southern gospel songs and barroom country classics at inner city rock venues in Sydney and Melbourne between 1985 and 1988.
Singer Stephen, only added to the mystique and/or confusion by purchasing a twenty five dollar Reverendship from a religious organization from out of the back pages of the National Enquirer.
A nationally broadcast hour-long live concert on Australia's ABC TV, cemented their unique place to this day, as Australia's first and only southern gospel group ( perhaps Steve Messer's Strange Country comes close but their material is fundamentally different), albeit twelve thousand miles from the original source of inspiration, America's Deep South.
Mathew W. McPherson, Rolling Stone Australia Pendlebury and Hefner left the band after the release of Melbourne, Memphis and a Mansion, and were replaced by Tony Thornton, (drums) and Martin Lubran (lead guitar and pedal steel).