Uncle John & Whitelock was formed in 2001 by singer and guitarist, Jacob Lovatt, and bass player, Raydale Dower.

The band was expanded to a five-piece line-up in 2002 with the addition of drummer Matthew Black and keyboard player Nic Denholm, Hobson moving to guitar.

In October 2005, they appeared at an awareness-raising music festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia for World Mental Health Day.

[2][8] Lovatt now fronts Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers;[9] Dower, Black and Bolland play in Musique concrète ensemble Tut Vu Vu;[10] and Philp in Gypsy folk combo Adopted as Holograph.

[17] The music was described as 'steel-toed subterranean rock'[17] and 'frighteningly visceral blues',[18] and this blues sensibility, coupled with Lovatt's distinctive vocals, led to the band being compared with Dr John, Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits and Nick Cave,[14][19] while their songs were noted for their disturbing and anarchistic content.