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About

Shearwater was formed by two bandmembers of Austin, TX's Okkervil River. Okkervil's back-up vocalist and accordion/keyboard player Jonathan Meiburg and singer and guitarist Will Sheff formed Shearwater so they could write quieter songs. Beginning in 2005, Sheff lessened his role in the band, leaving Meiburg as the band's songwriter from Palo Santo on. Band members today include Jonathan Meiburg, Thor Harris, Kim Burke, Lucas Oswald, with many contributions from others. The touring band in 2012 featured producer/drummer Danny Reisch and guitarist/vocalist Mitch Billeaud of The Lemurs and Christiaan Mader of Brass Bed. To date, Shearwater has released seven full-length albums The Dissolving Room, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Winged Life, Palo Santo, Rook, The Golden Archipelago, and Animal Joy, as well as EPs Thieves and The Snow Leopard, and a split LP with Okkervil River entitled Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral. An album of covers of former touring partners, Fellow Travelers, will release in November 2013, with a new album of originals following in 2014. As an ornithologist and writer, Meiburg has a unique perspective. The songs of Palo Santo were partly written at the Galápagos Islands in the footsteps of Charles Darwin. Rook was influenced by studies in the Falklands Islands and by the current mass extinction we are living through. The Golden Archipelago examined the destruction of island cultures in the 20th century and beyond. Animal Joy returned to more personal concerns; Meiburg stated repeatedly in interviews that the foundational idea is that life is most real when "the blood flows fastest and closest to the surface." Fellow Travelers started as a small home EP and expanded into a full album celebrating relationships with the other bands they've met along the way.

Discography

  • The Great Awakening

    The Great Awakening

    Album2022
  • Demos and Outtakes 2013

    Demos and Outtakes 2013

    Album2022
  • Quarantine Music II: Europan Benthic Detritivore

    Quarantine Music II: Europan Benthic Detritivore

    EP2020
  • Quarantine Music I-IV

    Quarantine Music I-IV

    Album2020
  • Quarantine Music V-VIII

    Quarantine Music V-VIII

    Album2020
  • Quarantine Music V: Two Sleepless Nights

    Quarantine Music V: Two Sleepless Nights

    EP2020
  • Quarantine Music VII: Blue Forest Overture

    Quarantine Music VII: Blue Forest Overture

    EP2020
  • Quarantine Music IV: Brazen Victory Blues

    Quarantine Music IV: Brazen Victory Blues

    EP2020
  • Quarantine Music VI: Thin Place Journals

    Quarantine Music VI: Thin Place Journals

    EP2020
  • Quarantine Music III: Empty Memory Palace

    Quarantine Music III: Empty Memory Palace

    EP2020
See all 50 releases