Utah Carol, the duo's first band, was formed in 1997 on the west side of Chicago by Grant Birkenbeuel and JinJa Davis. The bandâs name comes from a song by the late Marty Robbins about a cowboy named Utah who dies trying to save his beloved friend Lenore from a stampede. Utah Carol recorded their first self-titled EP in 1997 and has played the Chicago club scene.

JinJa and Grant produced, arranged, wrote, performed, recorded and self-released Wonderwheel (ASCAP) (click and wait to view an animated surprise!), their first 20-song debut, in their west side apartment. Utah Carol currently lives, works and writes in Chicagoâs East Village area is influenced by artists like the Minutemen, Flatt and Scruggs, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Dolly Parton, John Ford, Lester Bangs, modern poetry, Jimi Hendrix, John Steinbeck and The Beatles.

Because Utah Carol's sound is a mix of many different moods and styles, the Wonder Wheel, a famous ferris wheel on Coney Island in New York was the perfect metaphor for their debut. To blend the variety of music on the record, the song order was very important to the completeness and overall feel of the album. Utah Carol gets inspiration from albums like Pet Sounds and The White Album and always dreamed of creating their own album which reflected their own life experiences. Movies, art and books also played a big part in the creation of Wonderwheel, which the band believes has a strong visual quality.

Utah Carol independently released Wonderwheel at record stores in Chicago and it is available at several online stores such as www.milesofmusic.com, www.amazon.com, www.theorchard.com and www.cdnow.com.

Two songs from Wonderwheel are also available for download on www.mp3.com.

Band members

Grant Birkenbeuel: vocals, bass and guitars 

JinJa Davis: vocals, Hammond and Roland VK-7

Utah Carol's desert island disks

The Minutemen; "Double Nickels on the Dime"

The Beatles; "The Beatles [The White Album]"