Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-… Read Full Bio ↴Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Jonathan Meiburg
The band was formed by two members of Okkervil River, back-up vocalist and accordion/keyboard player Jonathan Meiburg and singer and guitarist Will Sheff, 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 nine full-length albums The Dissolving Room, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Winged Life, Palo Santo, Rook, The Golden Archipelago, Animal Joy, and Jet Plane & Oxbow as well as EPs Thieves and The Snow Leopard, and a split LP with Okkervil River entitled Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral, as well as an album of covers of former touring partners, Fellow Travelers, released in November 2013.
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.
The band was formed by two members of Okkervil River, back-up vocalist and accordion/keyboard player Jonathan Meiburg and singer and guitarist Will Sheff, 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 nine full-length albums The Dissolving Room, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Winged Life, Palo Santo, Rook, The Golden Archipelago, Animal Joy, and Jet Plane & Oxbow as well as EPs Thieves and The Snow Leopard, and a split LP with Okkervil River entitled Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral, as well as an album of covers of former touring partners, Fellow Travelers, released in November 2013.
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.
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Rook (Bonus Track Version)
Shearwater Lyrics
Century Eyes You were not the first to arrive Will not be the…
Home Life When you were a child, you were a tomboy And your…
I Was a Cloud I was a cloud I was a cloud looking down Your frantic…
Lost Boys My blistered feet turn bloody So I take to the air And…
On the Death of the Waters From the wreck of the ark To the fading day of…
Rooks When the rooks were laid in the piles By the sides…
The Hunter's Star The hunter's star Burns brighter than all Of the suns of the…
The Snow Leopard The way is to climb The way is to lie still And…