The Long Winters

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Long Winters


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Seattle, Washington
Genre = Indie rock
Years_active = 2001 - present
Label = Barsuk
Associated_acts = Western State Hurricanes
Harvey Danger
Death Cab for Cutie
Bun Family Players
Nada Surf
URL =
Current_members = John Roderick
Eric Corson
Nabil Ayers
Jonathan Rothman
Past_members = Sean Nelson
Michael Shilling
Michael Schorr
Chris Caniglia
Darren Loucas
Mike Squires

The Long Winters is an American indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington.

Early history

Singer-songwriter John Roderick was born in Seattle, Washington, and later moved to in Anchorage, Alaska while in elementary school. He later returned to Seattle, formed the Bun Family Players [Citation
title = Seattle Weekly: Roderick Talks About Bun Family Players In His Weekly Column
url = http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2008/04/my_seattle_rock_journey_part_t.php#more
accessdate = 2008-08-19] and later the Western State Hurricanes. Following the collapse of the latter, he acted as touring keyboardist for Harvey Danger.

In 2001 Harvey Danger singer/songwriter Sean Nelson suggested that he and Roderick record an album -- half of the songs penned by John, and the other half by Sean. Death Cab for Cutie band member Chris Walla had recently opened up the Hall of Justice studio in Seattle and agreed to help them record. John recruited Joe Bass of Sky Cries Mary and Brian Young of Fountains of Wayne to flesh out several of the songs, and gradually the album evolved to feature only John's songs. After several months, "The Worst You Can Do Is Harm" was finished.

John traveled to New York, where he played solo shows and quickly began to pen new songs -- several of which would eventually be included on The Long Winters' second album, "When I Pretend to Fall".

While there he was contacted by Barsuk Records -- the label that would release "The Worst You Can Do Is Harm" – who made it clear they wanted John to tour to promote the release. He traveled back to Seattle and was joined by Chris Caniglia, former Western State Hurricanes drummer Michael Shilling and Eric Corson on bass. Thus, The Long Winters were born.

Official formation

Sean Nelson offered to sing harmony vocals on a number of songs at the band's first live gig. He ended up casually performing with the band for their first few shows before committing to full-time enrollment.

The original trio responsible for "The Worst You Can Do Is Harm" (John Roderick, Sean Nelson, and Chris Walla) is often considered the original incarnation of the band. John and Sean, along with recruits Eric Corson and Michael Shilling (the drummer in Roderick's previous band, the Western State Hurricanes) are the core players behind "When I Pretend to Fall", with Sean having replaced Chris Caniglia as the band's keyboardist. "When I Pretend to Fall" was released and John, Sean, Eric and Michael embarked on an ambitious series of tours throughout 2003 in support of the album. The band toured North America with Barsuk Records labelmates Nada Surf and Death Cab for Cutie, and later spent November touring Europe. Michael Shilling eventually quit in December 2003, burned out by the hectic touring and lifestyle of the band.

With the best wishes of The Long Winters, Sean left in March 2004 to rekindle his former band.

Early 2004 and onward

At the time of Sean's departure, The Long Winters had recently begun rehearsing with Michael Shilling's replacement for the band's 2004 tours, former Death Cab for Cutie percussionist Michael Schorr. Confronted with a double blow to the band's line-up, John took opportunity to reinvent the band again -- especially with an east coast tour with The Pernice Brothers, a more fleshed out European tour, and a nationwide tour supporting the Decemberists that would take the band through the spring and well into the summer. Thus, the leaner three-piece version of The Long Winters was born, featuring John Roderick, Eric Corson, and Michael Schorr.

This extensive spring/summer 2004 tour took its toll on drummer Michael Schorr, who left the band shortly after its completion. John continued to do small promotional events and shows throughout the latter half of 2004 and 2005, often previewing a handful of new Long Winters songs.

The next incarnation of The Long Winters featured John Roderick on vocals, guitars, and keyboard, Eric Corson on bass and back-up vocals, and Nabil Ayers on drums. The band did a tour supporting Keane in October 2005 in support of an EP released on October 11th, 2005, titled "Ultimatum". John Roderick did a solo mini tour through Europe in May 2006 to promote awareness for the third full-length LP, "Putting the Days to Bed", which was released on July 25, 2006. In the fall of 2006 the band, now with guitarist/keyboard player Jonathan Rothman replacing Mike Squires, toured the USA, after which they joined Keane once again for a European tour. Listed among the hardest touring bands in music, The Long Winters began 2007 with yet another European tour, followed by a month of shows in the USA and Canada.

In July 2008 the band went back into the studio to work on their fourth (yet untitled) album.

TV Appearances

*Beautiful Noise

Discography

References

External links

* [http://www.thelongwinters.com Official Long Winters Site]
* [http://www.barsuk.com/web.cgi?lw&lwnews The Long Winters at Barsuk Records]
* [http://www.thelongwinters.com/board/ Official Long Winters Messageboard]
* [http://thelongwinterslibrary.com/ The Long Winters Library]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thelongwinters The Long Winters on MySpace]
* [http://www.dorsiafilms.com Film documentary about The Long Winters]
* [http://www.haterhigh.com Lyrics, tablatures, lossless audio downloads]
* [http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/john_roderick_reverb_residency/ John Roderick's Seattle Weekly Column]