'Bill Janovitz' is best known as the singer and guitarist of the
alternative rock band
Buffalo Tom.
History
After enrolling at the
University of Massachusetts, Janovitz formed
Buffalo Tom with fellow students Chris Colbourn and Tom Maginnis. A friendship with
J. Mascis of
Dinosaur Jr helped the band's career to take off, with Mascis producing the band's first two albums to critical acclaim. Commercial success followed with their subsequent records as the band developed a fanbase both at home and abroad.
In 1997, Janovitz released the solo album ''
Lonesome Billy'', with help from
Joey Burns and
John Convertino of
Giant Sand and
Calexico, utilising unused Buffalo Tom songs to form the bulk of the album.
During Buffalo Tom's long hiatus after ''
Smitten'' in 1998, Bill worked with keyboardist Phil Aiken and Chris Toppin and released the album ''
Up Here'' in 2001.
He continued to work with Aiken and released the album ''
Fireworks on TV!'' as
Crown Victoria (also including Tom Polce on drums and Matt Tahaney on bass) in 2004.
Solo Discography
★ ''
Lonesome Billy'' (1997)
★ ''
Up Here'' (2001)
★ ''
Fireworks on TV!'' (as
Crown Victoria, 2004)
Trivia
★ His younger brother
Paul Janovitz is the singer and guitarist of
Cold Water Flat.
★ Janovitz is a frequent contributor to
allmusic.com
★ Janovitz also has a side project, the Bathing Beauties; formed originally to play covers for fun at the occasional bar gig.