Bill Janovitz is best-known as the guitarist and lead singer with Buffalo Tom, one of the few bands that sprung from the American underground scene of the '80s who weathered the alternative rock boom of the '90s with their talent and integrity intact.

From 1989-1999, Buffalo Tom released 6 CDs and continuously toured the world, Chicago being one of the band's favorite places to play, with sold out shows at Caberet Metro, the Vic, and the Double Door.

After 1993's Big Red Letter Day, Buffalo Tom opted to take some time off, and Janovitz decided to make use of a backlog of unrecorded songs by making a solo album. Lonesome Billy, recorded at a tiny studio in Arizona, found Janovitz playing alongside Joey Burns and John Convertino of Giant Sand and Calexico, and Chris Toppin from Fuzzy, on a set of material that displayed a surprisingly rootsy style.

Janovitz returned to Buffalo Tom for 1998's Smitten, but in 2001, with the group on hiatus, he released a second solo set, Up Here, which found Janovitz exploring his interest in folk-rock and singer/songwriter-oriented material. The musicians Janovitz assembled for the Up Here sessions -- which included Toppin, bassist Josh Lattanzi, and drummer Tom Polce -- eventually evolved into a separate band, Crown Victoria, who began playing live shows and in 2004 shared billing with Janovitz for the album Fireworks on TV!.

Buffalo Tom continued to play live and tour, though took a break from recording from 1999-2007, when they released Three Easy Pieces. There is a new record due to be released in 2010. And Janovitz blogs with weekly cover songs for his Cover of the Week project at PartTimeManOfRock.com..