Walt Mink
Looking for a bass player to fill out a trio, they were introduced to Candice Belanoff, another Macalester student, who had only been playing for a few months, and Walt Mink was formed in February 1989, named after a beloved psychology professor.
The band started out by playing at college house parties on the weekends, and in December 1989, a fellow student offered to record them for a 7" single he was releasing on his own independent label, Skene!
Distributed to friends and sold on consignment in local record stores, the tape gained modest notoriety and furthered the name of the band in the Twin Cities.
By the end of the spring, the members of Walt Mink pledged to pursue the goal of getting more club gigs in Minneapolis after going their separate ways over the summer.
Walt Mink continued to play in Minneapolis throughout the summer of 1991, garnering much local press and building a respectable fan base.
Bareback Ride was released in June of that year and paved the way for continued touring, both as headliners and as support for bands such as Hole, Urge Overkill, Paul Westerberg and Cracker, among others.
By mid-summer of 1993, the band had decided that Columbia Records seemed to be the most enthusiastic, and so while on tour in Memphis, Tennessee, the three members signed a six-record contract under a statue of the great blues songwriter W.C.
By the late spring of that year, with the success of the album Mellow Gold keeping him busy as Beck's drummer, Joey left Walt Mink.
Recording of what was now to be their Atlantic debut began in April of that year at Dreamland Studios in Woodstock, New York, with John Agnello producing.
In spite of an uplifting piece about the band in Billboard that day, in which it cheerfully asserted that after so many disappointments it seemed that Walt Mink was finally going to get a chance to be heard, the mood of the moment was one of deep uncertainty.
By early 1997, several independent labels had expressed interest in the record, but it was finally Deep Elm who John and Candice decided was the right fit.
The record, Colossus, was released in June of that year, but the two remaining members had given up on the idea of finding a replacement drummer for touring, planning instead to occasionally perform as an acoustic duo.
At this point, the group met Will Tanous, a friend who had wanted Colossus on his label, and who also worked for the HBO live music show Reverb.
The band has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,[2] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.
