Carissa's Wierd was formed in 1995 by Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto. The misspelling in the name started by accident with a mistake in the printing of their premiere flyers, but the name stuck. They originally met in Tucson, AZ when they were both 15 and started writing and playing songs together. After brief travels to Michigan and South Carolina, they stayed in Olympia, WA for awhile before moving to Seattle. The line-up in 2000 for the first album, "Ugly But Honest", also included Sarah Standard, Robin Peringer, and Gilden Tunador. The band's sound has been categorized as many different things such as slowcore, sad pop, and chamber pop. Jenn has a heavy metal background while Mat grew up listening to bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction.

In 2001 the band recorded their second album, "You Should Be At Home Here", which was mixed by Chris Walla. Around this time, Jenn Ghetto also released a solo album, "Sadstyle", under the moniker "S". The band played a variety of small venues, as well as venuses like the South By Southwest Festival. Although they won some critical acclaim, the band didn't seem to achieve much commercial success. Around 2002 the band released "Songs About Leaving" on Sad Robot Records. The group did long tours in support of the album. In November 2003, Carissa's Wierd played their farewell shows at the Crocodile in Seattle, including one show which was recorded and released on the album "I Before E" (along with 3 studio tracks). At the farewell shows, the band sold a collection of previously unreleased songs, covers, and demos called "Scrapbook", recorded from 1996-2003.

Mat Brooke and Ben Bridwell went on to form Band of Horses. Brooke later left that group and formed Grand Archives. Jenn Ghetto contributed some guest vocals on some Grand Archives songs, as well as continuing her own project, "S". Sera Cahoone has pursued a solo career, releasing a couple studio albums.

Mat and Jenn bought back the rights to the Carissa's Wierd catalog in 2010. Previously out of print, the band's CDs were sometimes selling for $60 or more on Ebay. With the label Hardly Art, they released a CD retrospective, "They'll Only Miss You When You Leave", and released their three original albums on vinyl for the first time. In July 2010, Carissa's Wierd did a reunion concert at the Showbox in Seattle. Mat Brooke commented that it was the biggest audience they had played for and the band played one new song. Then in August 2011, Hardly Art announced a new Carissa's Wierd single would be released in September, including the song played at the reunion show and another brand new song. The band is scheduled to play at least one concert in support of the new single.

Members (1996-2003):
Mat Brooke - guitar, vocals
Jenn Ghetto - guitar, vocals
Sarah Standard - violin
Jeff Hellis - piano, accordian
Ben Bridwell - drums, bass, lap steel, vocals
Robin Peringer - drums
Sera Cahoone - drums
Thomas Wright - percussion
Gilden Tunador - keyboard