Jennifer is originally from Kentucky, but has lived in Central Texas all her adult life. She graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. followed by a law degree and practices law in Austin during the daylight hours. She writes songs and plays guitar at night.

Craig came to Austin from Hollywood, California, where he was born and raised. He got a degree in recording engineering before attending massage school in Austin, where he has worked as a massage therapist for more than 10 years. He has been playing bass since he was a teenager.

Jennifer and Craig found each other in 1997 and formed Possumhead in 2001, although it was more a concept than a band until 2003, when they began recording songs Jennifer had written.

And the most important item of all how did POSSUMHEAD get its name?

Craig and Jennifer named their band after Possum D. Mattingly, one of Jennifer's cats. Jennifer was adopted by the cat in 2000 after she came to roost in one of Jennifer's pecan trees, causing visitors to Jennifer's house to say "Did you know there's a cat in your tree?" She made herself especially obvious by dangling her hind legs from a low branch. Jennifer eventually noticed that the tame, personable cat who leaped from the tree to greet her every day was starving to the point of emaciation (difficult to see with all that luxurious fur!) and began feeding her on the side porch.

Within days of the appearance of crunchy cat food on the porch, a real opossum started showing up for a free nibble in the evening, with Possum the cat nodding approvingly nearby, as if to say "Go ahead and have some that lady always brings more." On June 30, 2000, Possum presented Jennifer with four tiny kittens on the side porch, and she proved to be a ferocious mother.

There were no more visits from opossums or any other animals as long as the kittens were nursing on the porch. By the time the kittens were old enough to be adopted out, Possum had insinuated herself into Jennifer's house permanently. Given her predilection for hanging from tree limbs and her fondness for opossums, she was named Possum back in 2000. She loves to listen to music, especially while it is being performed live at Jennifer's house, and that led to the band being named after her cute little head.

POSSUMHEAD will be booking live performances for the summer of 2005.



POSSUMHEAD has a 7 song EP available for a mere $7.