Biography
Tim Foljahn served as the central figure in Two Dollar Guitar, launching the project upon settling in Hoboken, NJ, following extended travels that included stops in New Orleans, Albuquerque, and Chicago. He connected with longtime acquaintance Steve Shelley, the Sonic Youth drummer, to capture a set of dark ballads gathered along the way. Their first release, the 1995 single "Lost Bird" on Smells Like Records, was produced by Shelley, who also contributed percussion, though the effort remained essentially a Foljahn solo endeavor. The pair soon followed with Let Me Bring You Down, again on Smells Like Records, which explored further into his store of somber material.
Their collaboration expanded as the two performed together in additional projects around the time of that album’s release, including Mosquito, Male Slut alongside Thurston Moore, and Cat Power. In 1996 the Smells Like Records full-length Burned and Buried drew in additional guest players and moved deeper into folk, jazz, and blues traditions, adding pedal steel and blues harp while balancing mature instrumental passages with its lyrics. With this release Two Dollar Guitar solidified as a complete band by bringing ex-Cell bassist Dave Motamed on as a permanent member. Two singles from the Burned and Buried sessions, “Woman Killing Man” and “Erl King,” appeared in 1997.
Further experiments arrived in 1998. Foljahn issued the more minimal solo album Hotel Opera under the name la Lengua Asesina, while Train Songs, credited to all three members, omitted lyrics entirely so that the instrumental pieces could expand in varied directions, underscoring the trio’s growth and tightening interplay. Weak Beats and Lame-Ass Rhymes followed on Smells Like Records in 2000.
Their collaboration expanded as the two performed together in additional projects around the time of that album’s release, including Mosquito, Male Slut alongside Thurston Moore, and Cat Power. In 1996 the Smells Like Records full-length Burned and Buried drew in additional guest players and moved deeper into folk, jazz, and blues traditions, adding pedal steel and blues harp while balancing mature instrumental passages with its lyrics. With this release Two Dollar Guitar solidified as a complete band by bringing ex-Cell bassist Dave Motamed on as a permanent member. Two singles from the Burned and Buried sessions, “Woman Killing Man” and “Erl King,” appeared in 1997.
Further experiments arrived in 1998. Foljahn issued the more minimal solo album Hotel Opera under the name la Lengua Asesina, while Train Songs, credited to all three members, omitted lyrics entirely so that the instrumental pieces could expand in varied directions, underscoring the trio’s growth and tightening interplay. Weak Beats and Lame-Ass Rhymes followed on Smells Like Records in 2000.
Albums