"A two-night stand at our favorite Chicago venue, and really, one of our favorites period. That's why we're playing there twice." - via The Wrens blog

The wrens’ first tour’s first show is in Omaha, Nebraska playing to an overwhelming five-person crowd that includes Robb, Conor, and Todd of the as-yet-unfounded Saddle Creek label/scene (Conor and Todd of Bright Eyes and the Faint respectively). The wrens and the creek become friends, and over the next few years play many shows together, have many sleepovers, and later issue a split 7" w/ Park Ave on their Saddle Creek label.

Wrens continue to tour domestically & in Europe through 1995 and begin work on follow-up lp.

Grass records is bought from Dutch East India by Alan Melzter, to acquire the wrens – inexplicably now the label’s flagship band. The wrens release their second full length, Secaucus (1996), for Meltzer’s revamped Grass to even more (equally inexplicable) wonderful critical review.

Halfway into first tour supporting Secaucus, the wrens are told that if they do not sign their new fairly-high-dollar recording contract, all promotion for Secaucus will be stopped. The wrens, frowning on strong-arm tactics, do not re-sign and as promised, all promotion (including support for a pending tour of Europe with Brainiac) is pulled. The head of the record company, infuriated, commences layoffs of involved record company personnel and vows that “the next band to walk through that door will be made famous - at any cost”. The next band through the door is Creed. Grass Records becomes Wind Up Records. Creed becomes famous at any cost.