Wolfie

Another product of the indie pop hotbed of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Wolfie's origins date to the fall of 1991, when bassist/singer Joe Ziemba and singer/guitarist Mike Downey first met in high school. Despite common musical interests, both played in separate bands for the next few years, with <a href="spotify:artist:0pOxkX67uMBpgEeI3zwiQC">Downey</a> soon joining drummer R.J. Porter in Plain Jane. At age 17, Ziemba self-released a solo tape called Slackjawed. In 1995, he recruited both <a href="spotify:artist:0pOxkX67uMBpgEeI3zwiQC">Downey</a> and Porter to perform live in a band also called Slackjawed; originally a one-off project, the trio ended up releasing a pair of home recordings, with <a href="spotify:artist:0pOxkX67uMBpgEeI3zwiQC">Downey</a> also issuing the solo cassette A Fire Breathing Dinosaur by Tim. In late 1996, Ziemba's girlfriend, singer/keyboardist Amanda A. Lyons (who became Amanda Ziemba shortly thereafter), joined the group, and with her arrival the quartet rechristened themselves Wolfie. Debuting a year later with the single "Don't Turn It Off," they released the effervescent full-length Awful Mess Mystery in 1998. Where's Wolfie followed in the spring of 1999, and a year later, the group moved to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kindercore%22">Kindercore</a> label to issue the EP Wolfie & the Coat & Hat. The full-length Tall Dark Hill followed in 2001. The band split soon after the release and the members went on to form various bands like <a href="spotify:artist:6m2SL39k18uqJlQeiTKThf">Mathlete</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4Od9TAxQoGnEEPCAPKzejx">the Like Young</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5QrYopooFoUvpT90e3XA1K">Beaujolais</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2HiKQdT68d3T9lax7ZyMM5">the National Splits</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6JlAilQV0s2dg66nMeMssU">the New Constitution</a>. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi