The Tennessee Twin

The Tennessee Twin began in Olympia, Washington, way back in 1998 as the brainchild of Ms. Lucinda Marie Wolfe.

"Cindy," born an identical twin in Memphis, Tennessee, found song-writing inspiration from her southern roots and desire to create music that differed from that of her punk rock peers. This effort at expanding the horizons of the Olympia music scene began with Cindy writing, directing, and staging puppet shows. Fearful of being pigeon-holed as a puppeteer, she began conceptualizing a country act with her twin, Allison of acclaimed "riot girl" band Bratmobile. Unfortunately, living on opposite coasts prevented the duo concept from becoming a reality. Nonetheless, Cindy forged ahead with her song-writing attempts, often drawing from summers spent with her dad and relatives in east Tennessee.

So, you may ask, why is Ms. Wolfe in Canada? Well, a New Pornographer brought her up to Vancouver a few years ago, and "Dubya" will keep her from going back to the States for now. Though some folks poke fun at her mild twang and Valley Girl lingo (acquired at Pomona College in Claremont, CA), Canada has generally been good to Cindy.

When Bratmobile finally decided to grace Vancouver with its presence, Allison convinced Cindy to assemble a band and jump on the bill, marking the first public performance of The Tennessee Twin. A rotating back-up band of accomplished Vancouver musicians (frequently women) has always come to The Tennessee Twin's rescue. Things certainly have come a long way since Cindy began writing songs inside her head, then quickly recording them onto a borrowed 4-track recorder. Now she composes tunes on her mandolin, enabling her to better communicate the music to her back-up band. Cindy's old-style heartfelt ballads and hillbilly barn-burners spring from time spent in the country of country, relationships gone wrong, and even shitty apartment dwellings.

The Tennessee Twin has had the privilege of playing several "high-profile" shows, such as a mini-tour with Bratmobile, YoYo-A-GoGo festival, Bob's World Famous Java Jive in Tacoma, and Ladyfest 2000 with fellow label-mates Carolyn Mark and fellow former Tacoman Neko Case. The Tennessee Twin also played at the YoYo-A-GoGo festival in Olympia last summer! Kindly, Mint Records in Vancouver signed up The Tennessee Twin to its roster, with a 7" single released in August 2001 --featuring the songs "Oh Darkness" and "These Thoughts Are Occupied." The Tennessee Twin's full length debut album, "Free To Do What?" is due out in February 2002..

Not only is Cindy a country crooner, but an actress as well! She and label-mate Carl Newman (The New Pornographers) play scary born-again Christians in label-mate Blaine Thurier's (The New Pornographers) acclaimed Canadian independent feature film Low Self Esteem Girl. Low Self Esteem Girl screened at the last Toronto International Film Festival amidst much fanfare and won the Best Narrative Feature Film juried award at the last South-By-Southwest Film Festival in Austin. In addition, The Tennessee Twin song "These Thoughts Are Occupied" is featured in the Canadian independent feature film, Mile Zero.

As of 2003, The Tennessee Twin will again take part in Vancouver's New Music West festival (www.newmusicwest.com) and Cindy has been taking acting classes at the esteemed Lyric School of Acting (www.lyricproject.com) for the past year and-a-half under the tutelage of Ms. Nancy Sivak. Cindy is also very excited to be working on another Blaine Thurier film which is entitled 'Male Fantasy'. Cindy is to play the part of 'Sally' supporting actor Rob Dayton (of Vancouver band Canned Hamm fame) who is also part of the film cast. They are hoping to get this project screened at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival as well.