The Wallflowers

Although The Wallflowers began as a rootsy pop-rock band, they evolved into little more than a backing band led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Jakob Dylan. Originally coalescing in the Los Angeles music scene of the late 1980s, the band’s initial lineup consisted of Dylan (son of the legendary Bob Dylan), guitarist Tobi Miller, bassist Barrie Maguire, drummer Peter Yanowitz, and keyboard player Rami Jaffee. Their self-titled debut LP didn’t garner much success, but it did allow them to open for headliners such as Spin Doctors. Maguire, Miller, and Janowitz all exited the band before the recording of 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse, which proved to be the act’s breakthrough thanks to the singles “One Headlight” and “Sixth Avenue Heartache”. They scored another hit with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” recorded for the soundtrack to Godzilla. 2000’s (Breach), which featured more personal songs from Dylan, underperformed in terms of sales and chart success. 2002’s Red Letter Days would be the last album with Rami Jaffee and reach number 32 on the chart, almost twenty spots lower than (Breach). A tour followed 2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart and then a long hiatus that ended with recording session for what became 2012’s Glad All Over. For that album, Jakob Dylan collaborated musically with the band more closely than he had in the past. The album peaked at number 48 and led to a tour as well as several shows with Eric Clapton. Dylan announced that going forward he would be using The Wallflowers name for his solo work. In 2021 they released Exit Wounds, a collection of songs written during the COVID-19 pandemic.