General Information

Rami Jaffee, Mario Calire, Jakob Dylan, Mike Ward, Greg Richling

The Wallflowers are:

Jakob Dylan: Vocals and Guitar

Mike Ward: Backup Vocals and Guitars

Rami Jaffee: Pianos, B3, Upright Piano, Vox Contiential

Greg Richling: Bass

Mario Calire: Drums

Band History:

The original members of The Wallflowers were Jakob Dylan, Rami Jaffee, Barrie Maguire (bass), Peter Yanowitz (drums), and Tobi Miller (guitar). Only Jakob and Rami still remain in the band. The Apples was their name for a while but it was changed after a photographer commented to them that they stood around like a bunch of wallflowers. They began playing at the Kibitz Room in Canter's Deli located in LA and eventually were signed to Virgin Records. In 1992 their self- titled debut album was released, and although loved by the critics, it didn't sell as well as hoped. Unhappy with Virgin and vice versa the band was let out of it's contract. Jakob then spent a year getting the group together and writing more songs.
A while later the group got a second chance when they were signed to Interscope Records. During 1994-1995 the recording of Bringing Down The Horse was taking place with the addition of it's new group members and the help of some special guests artists (Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, Michael Penn, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Leo LeBlanc) when it was finally completed and released in May of 1996. This time around everyone took notice. The record has since gone 5x platinum, won 2 Grammy's, produced hit singles such as 6th Avenue Heartache and One Headlight, and is the Best Selling Rock Record of 1997.

Tidbits:

In the Rolling Stones interview, Jakob was asked why their 2nd album was called "Bringing Down the Horse" he recalled, "That's what it felt like for three years trying to make this damned thing," he says. "It was like trying to pull down a horse."
Jakob's mother is Sara Lowndes, who is former model, and his father is Bob Dylan, a songwriter.
Greg and Jakob went to the same high school, and they both attended Windward school in LA together.
Jakob first saw Mario play at a place in LA called The Mint and told his manager, Andy Slater, "I'd like to play with him."
Mario is the middle son of keyboard player Jamie Calire of the `70s California pop band, America ("Horse With No Name").
The Wallflowers made their tv debut with Ashes To Ashes on the Late Night with David Letterman show in 1993.
Mario didn't play the drums on BDTH, Matt Chamberlin did. Mario was hired as the official drummer after the album was made. Their cover of Heroes off of the Godzila soundtrack is the first recorded track with Mario playing drums.
Mike's played with a band called School of Fish, and he's played with John Hiatt. In addition, he's the lead singer and lead guitarist of a band called Tiny Buddy.
Greg's dad suggested they should call the band Cold Fire but they already had a name.
Rami has been playing the piano since he was 3 years old.
Rami on why he never left the band: "I never considered leaving ... I believed in Jakob's songs, and I said to myself, 'You'll never find a band that you'd want to devote all your time to like that.' I stuck with Jake, and he wrote stuff, and we jammed at his house and tried to keep things going. To me, it was that simple. The fact that I'd get a record deal ever is a long shot."
Mario attended CalArts where he studied Jazz with Tootie Heath and Latin percussion with Efrian Toro. Mario also studies with Jim Christie who's in Dwight Yoakam's band.
Jakob bought the name "The Wallflowers" from Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger years ago. ("[Chris and Adam's] first band, THE WALLFLOWERS, did little besides attract the attention of Jakob Dylan, who bought the band name." Phoenix New Times, May 1, 1997.) Chris and Adam are currently members of the band Fountains of Wayne. Adam wrote the song "That Thing You Do" for Tom Hank's movie of the same name.
Mario's Top 10 Favorite Albums of 1998: (1.) Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. Bob Dylan Live 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, (2.) Massive Attack, Mezzanine, (3.) Beastie Boys, Hello Nasty, (4.) Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, (5.) PJ Harvey, Is This Desire?, (6.) Ozomatli, Ozomatli, (7.) Pearl Jam, Yield, (8.) Elliott Smith, XO, (9.) Sheryl Crow, The Globe Sessions, (10.) Jeff Buckley, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. (Source: Rocktropolis)
The Wallflowers sessions were surprisingly relaxed, Ward remembers. "T-Bone was kind of like, `Get him in there and let him do what he wants.´ I just got to do what I thought was cool. There were a few songs where they were really specific about what they wanted, though." 'Josephine' was one of these: Ward´s mournful, vibrato-heavy lead was played to order, even though he didn´t exactly understand Dylan´s instructions. "Jakob goes, `You know how Robbie Robertson would play it?´ And I go, `Yeah, yeah!´ But I don´t know the first thing about Robbie Robertson! I thought, `Play something the absolute polar opposite of what I would normally play´ I took a stab at it, and he was like, `Perfect! That´s exactly it!´ It was really funny." (Source: Musician Magazine)

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