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When Tanya Donnelly was a member of Throwing Muses (third from left in the adjacent photo), she was half of a songwriting team that operated independently, yet in remarkable unison, with fellow guitarist and Muse Kritin Hersh. The fact that their songs sat together so naturally was perhaps due to the years they had spent playing together while in their early teens, as a duo and as part of the Hersh-Donelly family hootenanies where songs would be contructed on the spot, and round-robin verses written on the fly. Whatever the cause of the affinity that Tanya and Kristin's songs shared, there was often a slightly pop-ier, lusher overtone to Donelly's songs, while the Hersh material was frequently edgier, the lyrics somewhat darker. It made sense then when Donelly joined up with Pixies bass player Kim Deal to form the Breeders, a group whose sound drew from the more sonorous aspects of their respective main bands. The side project snowballed into a more serious gig as the Pixies began to wind down- and eventually break up -and Tanya left the Muses to become a full-time Breeder. But whatever limitations Donelly felt being one of two writers in Throwing Muses, she apparently came to feel in the Breeders as well. After releasing a strong first Breeders album Pod [see cover at right], and having just completed recording a strong set of demos for the next, Tanya announced that she was leaving the band to form her own group, playing her own songs. And so Belly was born.

Lady sings the news... while her previous work has been uniformly strong, Lovesongs for Underdogs marks a wateshed in Tanya's career according to some critics, and is definitely the product of a mature, innovative artist who has come into her own.

Throwing Muses releases: the reissued House Tornado/Fat Skier combo; the original Gary Smith-produced House Tornado LP, which we recorded at Fort Apache - my contribution was minor- the groovy guitars Kris and Tanya are strumming on the cover were both mine; and The Real Ramona

Throwing Muses In A Doghouse which includes their 1985 demo- personally one of my favorite Muses' sets, the version of "Hate My Way" is definitive...also included in the enhanced program is the Muses award-winning "Fish" video, for which I was the audio engineer- you can read about that in the Muses article; the Breeders Pod, which Tanya plays on; and the 4 A.D. 4-song release Safari [Safari 4AD BAD 2003 CD]

Catherine Wheel with Tanya Donelly: "Judy Staring At The Sun", from CMJ's Certain Damage #68 CD;Rare On Air: Volume 2 live sessions from KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic [Mammoth MR0107-2]; also featured homegirl Aimee Mann performing "I've Had It";Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donelly "Josie and the Pussycats" from Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits [MCA MCAD-11348]; the album also featured Boston's MaryLou Lord singing "Sugar, Sugar" with Subsonic

this mortal coil: You and Your Sister [4AD 170.9999.22] C. Bell "You and Your Sister" ( Voices: Kim Deal, Tanya Donelly Music: Jon Turner Strings: Martin McCarrick, Jocelyn Pook, Sally Herbert, Sonia Slaney ); the Catherine Wheel's Happy Days LP and Judy Staring At The Sun EP.

With Fort Apache owner Gary Smith handling management chores with his usual dedication and attention to detail, Belly came out of the box stronger and faster than any of the previous Donelly bands. There area number of good websites that offer press releases, comprehensive discographies including the Belly and Tanya Donelly singles, bonus tracks and cameos. I've listed a few below.

2001: Three generations of beautiful Donelly women- momma, daughter and grandmother...plus yours truly in the catbird seat.