Polly Jean Harvey formed
the first incarnation of PJ Harvey in 1991 in the environs of Yeovil, Somerset,
England (where she grew up). A bass/drums/guitar trio, the group released their
first single, "Dress," that fall on the British indie label Too Pure,
followed by a second single "Sheela-Na-Gig" in February 1992. PJ
Harvey had begun an impressive critical climb, setting the stage for the band's
highly anticipated debut release, Dry, in March. It was during this time
that PJ Harvey signed to Island Records, which released Dry in North
America in June.
Dry was hailed as an astonishing debut. The
Nation called it "Funny, caustic, seductive, savage, wry, bruising,
ironic, raw." In August '92, a five-city tour brought PJ Harvey to the
States for the first time. Rolling Stone concluded "the band rocked
out mightily." While Dry was becoming a favorite among the American
press (Rolling Stone's "Critics Picks" placed it among the
year's best albums and named Polly Harvey as Best Songwriter and Best New Female
Singer, with similar "top album" accolades from the NY Times
and the Village Voice), Harvey had moved on to her next record, spending
two weeks in Minneapolis with producer Steve Albini in December, following a
second U.S. tour.
The resulting album, Rid Of Me, released
in May 1993, was heralded by the LA Times' Robert Hilburn as an
"astonishingly bold work" in a four-star review; Newsweek
called it "full of brutal, guitar-driven songs that tilt towards
performance art." Embarking on a world tour in May, the band wound through
Britain, Europe and the U.S. before visiting Japan for the first time in July.
In August they opened for U2 during a set of European stadium shows. These
concerts convinced Paul McGuinness and Sheila Roche, of Dublin-based Principle
Management (who manage U2), to work with PJ Harvey.
That fall, Polly Jean Harvey introduced her solo
career with 4-Track Demos, an album of demo material for Rid Of Me
composed of 14 songs, five of which were previously unreleased. Rolling Stone
wrote that it "Reveal[ed] an artist in the pure state of creation, fully in
her element, on her own" in a four-star review, while Entertainment
Weekly's "A" review called the record a "chillingly intimate
peek into the fierce musical ethic of an independent and compelling voice."
Harvey's most recent CD, Stories From The
City, Stories From The Sea, was slated for release in the fall of 2000. 
