Things of Stone and Wood formed in Melbourne in 1989 with Michael Allen on bass guitar and backing vocals; Greg Arnold on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Justin Brady on violin, mandolin and harmonica; and Tony Floyd on drums and percussion.
[1][3] One of Things of Stone and Wood's earliest gigs was at the 21st birthday party for Helen Durham – Arnold's then-girlfriend.
[1] In September 1991 they issued their debut single, "The Hopeful", on Things Records, which was produced by James Black (Greg Champion).
"Happy Birthday Helen" was parodied on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's TV series, The Late Show, in 1992 as "We've Just Run Out of Melbourne Cliches".
[8][9] During 1993 they supported national tours by Australian artists Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, and by Irish folk-rocker, Luka Bloom.
[10] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 The Yearning was nominated for 'Breakthrough Artist – Album' and 'Best Cover Art' (for Marcelle Lunam's artwork).
[11] The Yearning received critical acclaim from AllMusic's Jonathan Lewis, "shown a strong social conscience in their lyrics; in particular, they condemned the apparent rise of racism in Australia".
[1][6] Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane felt it "highlighted the band's eternal capacity for adventurous folk-pop arrangements, mellifluous melodies and Arnold's astute and sometimes acrid lyrical observations".
[1] Their third album, The Man with the Perfect Hair, appeared in November 1995 on their own independent label, Things Records and was co-produced by Black and the group.
McFarlane noted it was "[a]imed at the dedicated ToSaW fan, [which] comprised a pleasantly relaxed, single-take, 'unplugged' session that featured new songs, reworked B-sides and a dodgy Beatles cover, 'I've Just Seen a Face'".
In October 1996 the group's fourth album, Whirligig, was released, which was co-produced by Things of Stone and Wood, Black and Simon Holmes (The Fauves).
[1] Allen had already issued his debut solo album, Aeroplane (June), and followed with his second, Softness Isn’t Admired Enough (August 1999).
In 1999 Arnold formed a new band, Tricycle, with Anita Hustas on double bass and Ian Kitney on drums, which issued their debut album, Super (September).