Shearwater is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer

Jonathan Meiburg Jonathan Albert Meiburg is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead singer and songwriter for Shearwater (band), Shearwater. Early life and education Meiburg was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 1, 1976. His father, Stan Meib ...

, a singer-songwriter. The band's music is notable for its imagery based in nature, cerebral yet intimate melodic songs, as well as Meiburg's vocals.

History

Early years

In 1999,

Okkervil River Okkervil River is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff. Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river Okkervil in Saint Petersburg. They bega ...

band members

and

Will Sheff Will Robinson Sheff (born July 7, 1976) is the frontman for the Austin, Texas-based indie band Okkervil River (1998–present). Originally from Meriden, New Hampshire, he is also a founding member and co-songwriter (along with former Okkervil b ...

founded Shearwater as an outlet for quieter songs on which they were collaborating. The band's name comes from the

shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tube ...

, a tribe of seabirds related to petrels and albatrosses. Meiburg, who holds a master's degree in geography with a focus on ornithology, picked the name mostly for the sound of the word. Shearwater's debut, ''

The Dissolving Room ''The Dissolving Room'' is Shearwater's first full-length album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartri ...

'', introduced Kim Burke on upright bass; shortly after, drummer and vibraphonist Thor Harris joined the band. The addition of multi-instrumentalist Howard Draper plus tours and support dates with

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

Akron/Family Akron/Family were an American folk-influenced experimental rock band active from 2002 to 2013. Former members have lived in Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; and Joshua Tree, California. Music and history Though each member of the ba ...

and

Blonde Redhead Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of Kazu Makino (vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar) and identical twin brothers Simone (drums, keyboards) and Amedeo Pace (lead guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals) that formed in New York ...

brought them exposure. Shearwater continued to produce music under this lineup in '' Everybody Makes Mistakes'' (2002) and ''

Winged Life ''Winged Life'' is Shearwater's third full-length album, released on March 16, 2004, on Misra Records Misra Records is an independent record label based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The label is distributed by Redeye Worldwide. Founded in 1 ...

'' (2004), as well as the ''

Thieves Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

'' EP (2005). In May 2006, Shearwater released '' Palo Santo'', their fourth full-length album and last to be released on Misra Records, to much acclaim from critics and fans. The song "Red Sea, Black Sea," was featured as an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Song of the Day. NPR's Stephen Thompson subsequently named ''Palo Santo'' as the best album of 2006. Although Sheff appeared as an instrumentalist for the recording of Palo Santo, the album's songs were composed and sung entirely by Meiburg, as the band felt that the songs that Meiburg had written were best suited for the project. Sheff then left the band to concentrate on other projects.

Matador records

Midway through the tour for ''Palo Santo'', the band was notified by Misra Records that they would be unable to continue to distribute Shearwater's music. Meiburg personally emailed the owner of

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

, Gerard Cosloy, who subsequently signed Shearwater to a multi-album deal. On April 10, 2007, Shearwater released a two-disc edition of ''Palo Santo'' which featured five re-recorded tracks, remastered versions of the other six tracks, as well as a bonus disc of outtakes from the original sessions. Meiburg had felt that the original Palo Santo suffered from "murkiness", and could be improved upon in the studio. Matador Records released the album ''

Rook Rook or rooks may refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess that moves horizontally and vertically * Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game People, characters, individuals *a rookie, a rook * Russell Rook, Baron Rook (The Lord Rook; 21 ...

'' on June 3, 2008. On the tour that followed, Shearwater opened for Clinic and later

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

. Additional touring accompanists were added at that time: Jordan Geiger of Hospital Ships and

Minus Story Minus Story is an indie rock band based in Lawrence, Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. The core members of the band met growing up in Boonville, Missouri and are known for their off-kilter, sunny melodies and quirky instrumentation that forms the "wall ...

(on cornet, synthesizer, and percussion) and Kevin Schneider of Black Before Red (on keyboard, bass, and guitar) replaced Howard Draper. In November, 2009, Shearwater was the just the ninth artist featured on NPR's

Tiny Desk Concerts ''Tiny Desk Concerts'' is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of former ''All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first ''Tiny Desk Concert'' came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music edit ...

, with NPR's Stephen Thompson calling it a "glorious four-song set that was at once pristine and ramshackle", referring to the featured a set of unusual instruments including "banjos and auto parts to go with Harris' homemade '

waterphone A waterphone (also ocean harp) is a type of inharmonic acoustic tuned idiophone consisting of a stainless steel resonator ''bowl'' or ''pan'' with a cylindrical ''neck'' and bronze rods of different lengths and diameters around the rim of the bo ...

' and

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

". On February 23, 2010, Shearwater released their sixth album, ''

The Golden Archipelago ''The Golden Archipelago'' is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band Shearwater. It was released on February 23, 2010, on the Matador Records label. The track "Black Eyes" is the first single from the album. Shearwater released the al ...

,'' which the band produced with John Congleton. The band toured extensively behind the record in 2010, with an international tour in the spring (with

Wye Oak The Wye Oak was the largest Quercus alba, white oak tree in the United States and the State Tree of Maryland from 1941 until its demise in 2002. Wye Oak State Park preserves the site where the revered tree stood for more than 400 years in the ...

and Hospital Ships opening) and additional U.S. dates in the fall (with special guest

Damien Jurado Damien Troy Jurado (; born November 12, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington, United States. Over the years, he has released albums on Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, Loose, and is currently on his own label, Maraqopa Recor ...

). ''The Golden Archipelago'' concluded the band's Island Arc trilogy, a project also encompassing ''Palo Santo'' and ''Rook''. On November 6, 2010, the band released an instrumental album, ''Shearwater is Enron,'' via

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

. The album was recorded in the spring of 2010 and includes live material recorded at a performance under the pseudonym "Enron." It introduces some textures not traditionally associated with the band, such as electronic drum tracks and squalling guitar rock. Members of

and Hospital Ships assist on the live tracks.

Sub Pop records

In February 2012, a new full-length album called '' Animal Joy'' was released. It was Shearwater's first record with

Sub Pop Records Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated ...

. The record signaled a new chapter for the band after the conclusion of the Island trilogy, as the album included more rock elements. Following the release of the album, the band opened for the North American tour of

Sharon Van Etten Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally from New Jersey, and currently based in Los Angeles, Van Etten's music is noted for its indie rock aesthetic and personal lyric ...

. In 2013, ''Fellow Travelers'' was released on Sub Pop, a Shearwater album consisting entirely of cover songs by bands that Shearwater had toured with. Each band that was covered on the album was also invited to play on the album, under the condition that they could not play on their own song. The record ''Jet Plane and Oxbow'' was released on Sub Pop January 22, 2016. Frequent collaborator, producer Danny Reisch, worked on the album, as did composer

Brian Reitzell Brian Reitzell (born December 24, 1965) is an American musician, composer, record producer and music supervisor best known for his work on many film and TV soundtracks. He is notable for working extensively with the American film director Sofia ...

Jenn Wasner Jennifer Lynn Wasner (born April 16, 1986) is an American musician from Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore. Wasner is best known as one of the founding members of the band Wye Oak (band), Wye Oak, along with Andy Stack (Musician), Andy Stack. Wasner ...

, drummer Cully Symington, Howard Draper, and regular band members

Jesca Hoop Jessica "Jesca" Ada Hoop (born April 21, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who writes and performs in diverse musical styles. She has released six studio albums of her own, as well as live, acoustic and dual albums with other ...

, Lucas Oswald, and Abram Shook.

Jet Plane and Oxbow Tour and Self-Releases

The band toured the ''Jet Plane and Oxbow'' album in 2016. The lineup for the tour was considerably different than the studio album, retaining Meiburg and Oswald but adding Emily Lee on keyboards, Sadie Powers on bass and Josh Halpern on drums. During the tour, it was customary for the band to play several covers from the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

album '' Lodger'' as an encore. On March 25, 2016, the entire album was covered at Chicago's Schuba's Tavern, followed by a subsequent recording for the

AV Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in 1 ...

the next day. This was released as a limited edition vinyl and digital download and would eventually lead to a performance of the entire ''Berlin Trilogy'' at Brookfield Place, New York for WNYC in October 2018. The live recording was released as a limited digital download in 2019. During the tour, Meiburg became impressed with openers Cross Record. Meiburg and Cross Record's Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski went on to form a side-project, Loma, which has released three albums on Sub Pop: the self-titled ''Loma'' (2018), ''Don't Shy Away'' (2020) and ''How Will I Live Without a Body?'' (2024). In 2020, Shearwater began production of a crowdfunded studio album, but the recording was disrupted as a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

lockdowns. In response, Meiburg enlisted Dan Duszynski to produce the ambient ''Quarantine Music'' series, released digitally through Bandcamp. The new studio album, ''The Great Awakening'', was released in June 2022.

Discography

Albums

* 2001: ''

'' (Grey Flat) * 2002: '' Everybody Makes Mistakes'' (

Misra Records Misra Records is an independent record label based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The label is distributed by Redeye Worldwide. Founded in 1999, Misra Records is home to landmark releases by Destroyer, Phosphorescent, Shearwater, R. Ring (featu ...

) * 2004: ''

'' (

) * 2006: '' Palo Santo'' (

) * 2007: '' Palo Santo: Expanded Edition'' (

) * 2008: ''

'' (

) * 2010: ''

'' (

) * 2010: ''Shearwater Is Enron'' (self-released) * 2011: ''Excerpts from The Island Arc Live'' (self-released) * 2012: '' Animal Joy'' (

) * 2013: ''Fellow Travelers'' (

) * 2014: ''Missing Islands: Demos and Outtakes 2007–2012'' (self-released) * 2016: '' Jet Plane and Oxbow'' (

) * 2016: ''Shearwater Plays Lodger'' (self-released; a song-for-song performance of

's 1979 album '' Lodger'') * 2016: ''Rook: Live at Florence Gould Hall'' (self-released) * 2016: ''Live in St. Malo 2010'' (self-released) * 2017: ''The Sky Is a Blank Screen: Live Recordings 2016'' (self-released) * 2019: ''Shearwater Plays Bowie's Berlin Trilogy'' (self-released; live recording of

's entire

Berlin Trilogy The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: '' Low'', '' "Heroes"'' (both 1977) and '' Lodger'' (1979). Bowie recorded the albums in collaboration with English musician Brian Eno and American producer T ...

) * 2022: ''The Great Awakening'' (Polyborus Records)

Splits

* 2004: '' Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral'' by Shearwater/

(Jound) * 2013: ''Stop Draggin' My Heart Around/A Wake for the Minotaur'' by Shearwater &

* 2014: ''

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

/ Novacane'' by

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

/Shearwater

EPs

* 2005: ''Thieves'' (

) * 2008: ''The Snow Leopard'' (

) * 2020: Quarantine Music Vols. 1-8 (

)

Timeline

References

External links

* {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Texas Sub Pop artists Matador Records artists Misra Records artists