IKE

IKE is the brainchild of singer-songwriter-guitarist John Faye, formerly of The Caulfields. Working with guitarist Cliff Hillis, bassist Joann Schmidt and drummer Dave Anthony, The John Faye Power Trip was released in 1999. The collaboration eventually lead to the quartet adopting a unified band name, IKE, and the first full-length under this moniker, Parallel Universe, was self-released in 2003. With the quarter firmly planted in the Philadelphia scene, the album sold nearly 5000 copies, largely on the strength of "Deathbed (Na, Na, Na)", a minor radio hit in the area.

During and after a period of what the band described as the members creeping into adulthood, it took nearly a year to record the follow-up, In Real Life. Finally released in the summer of 2005, the band scored a hit on local station WMMR with "Into Philadelphia", now used as the entrance song for several of the city's sports teams. Although Hillis left the band in 2007 to focus on his solo career, they released another record, Where to Begin in January 2008, scoring another local hit with "We Like Sugar".

After Schmidt and Anthony left the band for other pursuits in 2008, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in an email sent to fans in October 2008. This status was surprisingly rescinded the following month, however, when Faye announced that the remaining bandmembers had decided to soldier on and were already demoing material for a new album. With permanent replacements Brett Talley (guitar), Susie Steen (bass) and Tommy Kristich (drums) on board, Tie the Knot with All That You've Got was finally released in January 2010.