04 Ascention

07 Crutch

08 Love Songs

09 Washing Dishes

10 Lullaby

11 Pushing Through

12 Chains

13 Turn On You

14 Dog Gone

15 Beautiful

16 Backseat Shakedown

In 1995 the stars were aligned and the timing was right for Chicago based founding members Holly Haley and Melissa Holt (both former 'Baby Oil') to meet Melissa Urbanski (fresh transplant from Minneapolis band 'Strap') and Yanti Arifin (of 'Squirm') to combine talents and collectively become JOYGiRL.
They played their first gig at the now defunct & legendary Lounge Ax as a four piece. “Seemed like we were the house band at Double Door for a year or so there” says Haley...sharing the stage with acts such as Sister Soleil, Chevelle, Great Apes,The Cells, etc. JOYGiRL were big guitars and layered harmonies  at once with a bit of sass, fierceness and vulnerability. 
A career highlight was playing the stage of Chicago's Metro as part of a record release for an Urban Legends 7” (remember those??) alongside the Wesley Willis Fiasco, Adamjack and Clown Love to name a few.
Joygirl (original line-up ) recorded 10 songs at Chicago's formidable Warzone recorders. Shortly thereafter, the band then morphed into a three piece, with Haley & Holt taking in Memphis' own Melanie Isaksen on bass & vocals. More studio time led the self-released debut “All American Power Trio” and it went on to sell 1500 copies. Towards the end of the bands existence, they had the honor of opening up for Cheap Trick at a sold out venue in the southwest suburbs. Over the years the women contributed tracks to many a compilation CD, including one honoring the great Chicago band Material Issue in '99 released on Veronica Records. A few JOYGiRL tunes were featured on local music radio shows (XRT, Q101) from time to time, small Midwest tours were endured, and the band carved a niche in what was a still a pretty exciting time for Chicago music, following the heyday of Liz Phair and the Smashing Pumpkins.
This JOYGiRL collective is a sampling of their songs from 1996 – 2001.
And we collectively appreciate you taking the time to read this! We hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed creating it. Rock on Chicago!!!!

Special thanks to the following along the for the ride:
Brian Anderson, Art Harrison, Todd Peterson, Kimberly DeCaires, Ruth Varella, Bob Popp, Phil Petrilli, Mary Holt, Karen Greco, Scott Ramsayer, Stephen George, Martin Stebbing, Blaise Barton, Doug, Van & Yvonne @Warzone, George @Bialy's, Dan & Karla Scanlan, Bob Sandidge, Ken Bosh, Tommy G., Spidey Valentine, Shawn Knapp, Larry McIntyre, Larry Beers, Jason LaBrosse, Jonathan Lowe, John Young, Dana Eskelson, John Almonte & Wickerman, Cheap Trick, The Freddie Jones Band, The Empty Bottle, Dan & Dorian DeMichele, Trent Anderson, Areos Ledesma, Joe Daniels, Scott Lucas, Mike O'Connell, Leddy Garcia, Laura Humpa, Chris Check, Roy Isaksen, Scott Wright, Joe Hathaway, Jim Chattin, Tenacious Tim, John Badiali, Chris Theis, Ricky Canning, Lorri Francis, Bohb Blair, Preston Graves, Mark Stevens, Paul Massaro, Matthew Sabin, Gary Rogers, Wesley Willis, Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney,  Dale Meiners, Spencer Young, Sarolta DeFaltay, Joe Shanahan, Johnny Mars, Jo Robinson, Ernie Yezzi, Nort Johnson, Amy Eaton, Andrea Obey, Cynthia Riegler, our parents and now YOU!



JOYGiRLCHICAGO

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