I like to refer to that time of my life as "the reckless burning years". It was less about making that record than it was learning how to just 'be'. Two estranged people going into lonely dark places - beautiful places. All we had was each other. We didn't even talk that much but somehow we just knew each other's story. That record was our story. Hell, our first date started when Phil picked me up in the pouring rain. I'd been riding my bike, got caught in a down pour. I called him up on a pay phone and told him to pick me up outside the funeral home with the neon sign-he was new to town so I figured it was a notable landmark. I stood under the awning thinking about what I might be getting myself into. He finally showed up and we threw my bike into the back of his pickup. The inside of the truck was warm....we sat and talked for awhile trying to come up with a destination.....I looked over and saw that sign, Funeral Parking Only...
Singer/songwriter Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher (original guitarist of Whiskeytown) met in the smokey, charming confines of Seattle's Hattie's Hat bar in 1998, and began a naturally evolving collaboration, initially performing as a duo. Their effective partnership soon drew the attention of violinist Anne Marie Ruljancich at the time known most notably for her work with the Walkabouts and an array of session work ranging from bands such as the Black Cat Orchestra to most recently an appearance on the Shins' "Chutes Too Narrow". Soon after came upright bass player Bill Herzog (Citizen Utilities) - who still drums in Joel Phelps and the Downer Trio, and drummer Kevin Warner (Evangeline). A new brand of "spooky American music" was born.
Sykes' delicately bewitching alto and Wandscher's dark spacious guitar melded warmly with their new band mates and the collective was christened Jesse Sykes And The Sweet Hereafter.
With 2002's critically acclaimed Reckless Burning under their belt, The Sweet Hereafter again chose to work under the wise ears of producer Tucker Martine and have created their second album "Oh,My Girl" out on Barsuk records. Writer Curtis McCrary of the Tucson Weekly has defined this album so well : "...an alt-country album in the minds of some ... But that reductionist impulse should be resisted; Oh, My Girl occupies a different plane than simple "Americana." It's music noir, encompassing the dark and gorgeous sadness that comes with being human." After making year end lists for 2004 in the New York Times, Tracks, Harp, Magnet and the LA Weekly for the record, the band started 2005 off with a two week tour supporting Bright Eyes and has since headlined their second national US tour. More touring is in the works for the US and Europe where the band has also garnered much critical praise and a much loved loyal fan base.
"Hypnotic in places, even narcotic, "Oh,My Girl" continues to reverberate long after it ends. Like the Velvet Underground's third record or Bob Dylan's Desire, what resonates after "Oh, My Girl" fades isn't any specific moment, but the feel of the world created in it and by it." - Magnet, May 2005
