The Wreckers

The Wreckers were an American country duo formed in 2005 by Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, both of whom had solo recordings before the duo's foundation. In 2006, the duo released its debut album Stand Still, Look Pretty, which produced a Number One single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in its lead-off single "Leave the Pieces." The album accounted for a Top Ten hit on the same chart in "My, Oh My" as well. After its release, both Branch and Harp returned to being solo singers. Harp has since had Top 40 country success of her own with the single "Boy Like Me".

Music career

Career success: Stand Still, Look Pretty

Sometime in 2005, Michelle Branch recruited her longtime friend and backing vocalist Jessica Harp on a new musical venture, incorporating elements from both Branch's pop-rock style and Harp's country style to form a unique-sounding duo. Thus, The Wreckers (a shortened form of the second band name given to the girls by Michelle's then husband Teddy Landau, "The Cass County Homewreckers") were formed and were soon signed to Maverick Records.

The Wreckers' song "The Good Kind"—originally recorded solely by Harp—was soon featured on the hit teen television series One Tree Hill. They performed this song on the show on February 8, 2005. Later that month, the duo embarked on the month-long, nationwide One Tree Hill Tour alongside Gavin DeGraw, Tyler Hilton, and Bethany Joy Galeotti. Branch later expressed her dislike of going on tour without releasing an album first, and The Wreckers then attempted to release their debut album, Stand Still, Look Pretty.

The album was finally released in May 2006, led off by the single "Leave the Pieces", a Number One country hit. It was followed by a heavy promotional radio campaign by the band which allowed it to make the top five on the country music albums chart in the United States, the top twenty on the Billboard 200, and the Number One album on the United Kingdom Country Chart. This allowed them to have various live performances including one in Indianapolis, Indiana at Monument Circle in August 2006 as part of the Final Four celebration., and on tour as Rascal Flatts's opening act during the summer of 2006, in addition to playing smaller club dates as headliners. "My, Oh My", was the second single from Stand Still, Look Pretty, and its Wild West-themed video was filmed on the Wild West stage at Universal Studios.

The band were nominated for "Vocal Duo of the Year" at the 40th Annual CMA Awards, but lost to Brooks & Dunn. In December 2006, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for "Leave the Pieces."^[1]

Split-up and recording solo albums

In February 2008, it was announced the group had split to focus on their solo careers.^[2] The duo has since stated that their next recording projects will be solo albums. Jessica Harp has stated that they will indeed continue The Wreckers as a side project, but solo albums are what "feels right" for now. Harp released her first solo single, "Boy Like Me" from her debut album A Woman Needs, in March 2009. The single was a Top 30 hit on the charts, and was followed by the album's title-track, which reached No. 56 after a short chart run. On March 16, 2010, Harp's album was digitally-released following an announcement that she would retire from her recording career to focus on songwriting. Meanwhile, Branch released the single "Sooner or Later" in August 2009 and released her 6-song EP Everything Comes and Goes on September 14, 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Featured singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• The Wreckers
• Jessica Harp
• Michelle Branch