Barbara Marsh is tall, glacial, dark and American.
	Ginny Clee is hot, red-haired and English.
	And short.
		
	They became The Dear Janes after mutual friend and (now) co-writer 
	Pete Smith suggested that they got together, despite initial reservations  

	Barbara: I had asked her before...

	Ginny:    ...and I said "no fucking way". 

	Barbara: She was almost tactful, at that point.

	Ginny:    Was I? That's a first...

	From this inauspicious beginning, Barbara and Gin initially became 
	writing partners. It was only after Barbara played a solo gig, that Ginny - 
	who was going puce with envy in the audience at the time - realised that 
	maybe they should give it a go as a band.

	Ten years and two albums later, sees Barbara & Ginny release SKIRT, 
	their third album and first for their own Sore Thumb label.  Recorded 
	on their own gear in a Sunday School in South London (fitting for a 
	pair of women whose most played record has been about girls' wanking),
	Skirt features contributions from Syd Straw, Billy Bragg & The Blokes, 
	BJ Cole and Ian McLagan, and was produced by Howard Hughes (credits 
	include Peter Murphy, Billy MacKenzie & the Associates among others) 
	and Simon Edwards (whom Ginny had conveniently proposed to on the 
	sleeve notes to their second album, No Skin. He married her.)

	Their first record, Sometimes I, on Transatlantic Records, featured 
   	Phill Brown (engineer), Anthony Thistlethwaite, Roy Dodds and Simon 
	Edwards (whose many credits include Fairground Attraction and Billy 
	Bragg). Since its release in 1994, The Dear Janes have built up a 
	strong following throughout Europe supporting The Proclaimers, The 
	Saw Doctors, Capercailie, Fischer-Z, Mary Black and two high profile
	dates with The Cranberries at Royal Albert Hall in 1995.

	By 1996, they'd signed with Geffen in the US and released No Skin, 
	which was recorded in Peter Gabriel's workroom at his Real World 
	Studios in Wiltshire. Guest musicians included major session men 
	John Giblin and Pablo Cook, as well as Dean 'Speedwell' Broderick. 
	Richard Evans produced. The Janes played two UK tours with The 
	Walkabouts and The Mutton Birds. By 1997, The Dear Janes hit America 
	with a 20-date headline tour, plus another 30 gigs with Robyn Hitchcock
	including a week at New York's Knitting Factory. After that, there were 
        dates with Peter Blegvad, Loudon Wainwright III, Ron Sexsmith and 
	Syd Straw plus a guest appearance on Daisy Bomb on Robyn Hitchcock's 
	A Star for Bram album.

	Since then, it's been a bit quiet. After hassles with Geffen and an 
	amicable split from their manager, Barbara & Ginny decided to go it 
	alone and start their own label - from Ginny's kitchen table - and after 
	a lengthy gestation due to lack of money, they've emerged with SKIRT.

	The Janes co-wrote one of the tracks, Ship, with Syd Straw, who 
	performed it with Emmylou Harris at a star-studded benefit in New York 
	earlier this year.

	Barbara and Ginny financed SKIRT by selling off a kidney each. 




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