Okkervil River
is an indie folk band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. They self-released their first album, Stars Too Small to Use,
which led them to the South by Southwest music festival. After recording their first album in a garage, they signed with Jagjaguwar. Okkervil River continued by releasing four more albums, including critically lauded concept album Black Sheep Boy
. [1]
After a period of touring for Black Sheep Boy
, Okkervil River followed up with The Stage Names
. The album sold 10,000 in its opening week in the United States. The group released a free covers album, Golden Opportunities Mixtape
from their live performances.
The band has garnered positive critical reception. Especially noted are each song's lyrics, intricate instrumentation, and thematic albums. [2]
In addition, they were recently featured on the talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien and have performed with high profile bands such as The Decemberists, The New Pornographers, and Lou Reed.
Okkervil River released their most recent album The Stand Ins
on September 9th, 2008. They are promoting the release with a series of cover songs from the album on YouTube by people they've met as a band.
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OKKERVIL RIVER TICKETS
| EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
|---|
| Okkervil River & The Antlers Tickets 6/10 | Jun 10, 2025
Tue, 7:00 PM |  | | Okkervil River & The Antlers Tickets 6/11 | Jun 11, 2025
Wed, 7:00 PM | | | Okkervil River & The Antlers Tickets 6/12 | Jun 12, 2025
Thu, 7:00 PM | | | Okkervil River & The Antlers Tickets 6/13 | Jun 13, 2025
Fri, 7:00 PM | | | Okkervil River & The Antlers Tickets 6/14 | Jun 14, 2025
Sat, 7:00 PM | |
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History
Formation
Okkervil River's founding members became friends in high school in
Meriden, New Hampshire, and after parting ways for college moved to Austin,
Texas to live together and start a band. The band consisted of singer-songwriter
Will Sheff, Zach Thomas on bass and mandolin, and Seth Warren on drums. Their first gig was at Steamboat in Austin on January 11, 1999.
Bedroom EP
and Stars Too Small to Use
In 1998, the group self-released their first disc,
Bedroom EP
. Over the course of two weekends in the summer of 1999, they recorded a seven song self-released album titled
Stars Too Small to Use
, with recording engineer Jeff Hoskins.
They met
Jonathan Meiburg at a gig with his band
Whu Gnu at the Waterloo Brewing Company on December 3, 1999. Meiburg subsequently joined the band on accordion and later on pianos and organs.
On the strength of
Stars Too Small to Use
, Okkervil River was admitted into the 2000
SXSW music festival. Their first major press was a SXSW feature article
[3] in the
Austin Chronicle
on March 3, 2000.
Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See
and Down the River of Golden Dreams
The band met recording engineer and producer
Brian Beattie at their SXSW showcase on March 18, 2000 and soon agreed to make a record together. They spent much of the rest of that year working on
Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See
. Warren moved to
Berkeley, California in December and was replaced on drums by Mark Pedini.
By the time of that year's SXSW festival, Okkervil River had received interest in their new record from the
Bloomington, Indiana-based record label
Jagjaguwar. The record was released on Jagjaguwar on January 22, 2002.
One year later the band traveled to San Francisco and reunited with Warren to record their third album at Tiny Telephone with engineer Scott Solter at the console. Jagjaguwar released
Down the River of Golden Dreams
on September 2, 2003.
In 2003, Pedini left the band to pursue his
graphic design work, leaving Okkervil River without a drummer for that year's SXSW. They invited
Travis Nelsen, fresh off a tour filling in on drums for sister labelmates
Secretly Canadian's
Swearing at Motorists, to perform with them. He soon became the band's full-time drummer. The next year, during a long bout of touring, the band added keyboardist and lap-steel player Howard Draper as a fifth member.
Black Sheep Boy
and The Stage Names
In August 2004, the band began recording with Beattie again, finally putting the finishing touches on their third full-length album,
Black Sheep Boy
in November. It was released on April 5, 2005. As a result of the album's overwhelming success, Okkervil River followed up with an
EP entitled
Black Sheep Boy Appendix
on November 22, 2005. This was the first recording with Draper, horn and keyboardist Scott Brackett, guitarist Brian Cassidy, and touring bassist Pat Pestorius, who eventually replaced Zach Thomas in the band.
In 2006 the band did a
Take-Away Show session with
Vincent Moon.
On April 17, 2006, Okkervil River signed with
Virgin/
EMI in Europe. The label re-released
Black Sheep Boy
and its follow-up
Black Sheep Boy Appendix
as a double disc on April 28, 2006. Jagjaguwar eventually followed suit, releasing the
Definitive Edition
with extra songs and videos.
[4]
The Stage Names
, their fourth full-length studio album (produced again by Beattie), was released on August 7, 2007. The disc features the solidified line-up that toured extensively on
Black Sheep Boy
and the
Black Sheep Boy Appendix
, with Cassidy replacing Draper who joined
Shearwater. The album was met with critical acclaim
[5] and debuted at number 62 on the
Billboard 200 with 10,000 copies sold.
[6]
Okkervil River released their fifth album
The Stand Ins
on September 9th 2008. The album was conceived as a sequel to
The Stage Names
.
[7] The album charted at #42 with 11,000 copies sold, according to the
Billboard 200.
[8] On December 12, 2007, the band freely released a nine-song
mixtape entitled
Golden Opportunities Mixtape
via their website.
[9] These recordings, along with the upcoming appendix, are the first to feature contributions from new touring keyboardist, Justin Sherburn, who joined the band in November 2007.
At a show in Wellington, New Zealand on 5 March 2008 it was announced that guitarist Brian Cassidy would be stepping down from the band as a full-time touring member. Shortly after this on 12 March 2008, it was subsequently announced that Cassidy's temporary replacement would be Charles Bissell of
The Wrens for their spring and summer tours.
[10] In the autumn of 2008 Lauren Gurgiolo, singer and songwriter of the Austin, Texas band The
Dialtones, joined as a permanent member, playing electric guitar, mandolin and banjo.
Other projects
In 2001, Meiburg and Sheff founded a second band known as
Shearwater. Originally an outlet for Meiburg songs and some Sheff songs that didn't fit the Okkervil mold, Shearwater has gradually evolved into a full fledged band. The band's 2006 release,
Palo Santo
(sans Sheff's vocals, but including his musical input), has seen Meiburg receive great critical acclaim. The groups still share many fans, and, while on tour together in 2004, they released a limited edition split-CD entitled
Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral
. In 2008, Meiburg left Okkervil River to focus exclusively on Shearwater.
Notable performances
- On April 30, 2007, the band played at the grand opening of New York's Highline Ballroom at the request of Okkervil River fan Lou Reed, who headlined the show.
- On July 14, 2007, the band played the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, New Hampshire. This was the first time Will Sheff had played live in New Hampshire, where the band was originally formed.
- On August 28, 2007, the band performed "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien
.
- On March 12, 2008, Okkervil River performed as the backup band for legendary Austin musician, and psychedelic pioneer Roky Erickson at the Austin Music Awards.
- On January 7, 2009, the band performed "Pop Lie" on CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman".
Discography
Albums
- 2002 Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See
- Jagjaguwar
- 2003 Down the River of Golden Dreams
- Jagjaguwar
- 2005 Black Sheep Boy
- Jagjaguwar
- 2007 The Stage Names
- Jagjaguwar #62 US
- 2008 The Stand Ins
- Jagjaguwar #42 US, #57 SWE
Split albums
- 2003 Julie Doiron / Okkervil River
– Acuarela, split with Julie Doiron
- 2004 Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral
– Jound, split with Shearwater
EPs
- 1998 Bedroom EP
– Jound
- 1999 Stars Too Small to Use
- Jound
- 2004 Sleep and Wake-Up Songs
- Jagjaguwar
- 2005 Black Sheep Boy Appendix
- Jagjaguwar
- 2006 Overboard and Down
– Inertia, Australia-only tour EP
Singles
- 1999 "The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion" – Jound, CD single
- 2000 "Kansas City Single" – Jound, CD single
- 2002 "Split single with South San Gabriel" – Tight Spot, 7”
- 2005 "For Real (There's Nothing Quite Like the Blinding Light)"' - Jagjaguwar, CD single
- 2006 "The President's Dead"' - Jagjaguwar, 12”
- 2008 "Lost Coastlines" - Jagjaguwar, 12”
Compilation contributions
- 1999 "Omie Wise" (Live) - Aural Fixation: Local Live Vol. 5
- 2002 "Disfigured Cowboy" - Comes With A Smile CD
- 2003 "Riot Act" - Glurp / Almost You: The Songs of Elvis Costello
- 2004 "My Bad Days (Live)" - Comes With A Smile CD
- 2005 "Nancy (Live)" - I Eat Records / Appetizers & Leftovers
- 2005 "Your Other Man" - Summersteps Records / Down in a Mirror: A Second Tribute to Jandek
- 2005 "Westfall (Live)" - Workplay / Workplay Live
Other
- 2007 Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition)
- Double album of Black Sheep Boy and Black Sheep Boy Appendix (Europe and US)
- 2007 Golden Opportunities Mixtape
- A collection of eight covers and one original song released on the band's website
References
- Best of 2005 List
- Allmusic: Okkervil River
- The Austin Chronicle: Music: Okkervil River: The New Sincerity
- JAG120 Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition)
- {{web cite |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/okkervilriver/stagenames?q=stage%20names |title=The Stage Names |publisher=Metacritic |accessdate=2007-08-15}}
- {{web cite |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003625922 |title=After Five-Year Absence, UGK Scores First No. 1 Album |date=2007-08-15 |publisher=Billboard.com}}
- {{web cite |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/50828-new-okkervil-river-album-due-in-september|title=New Okkervil River Album Due in September |date=2008-05-22 |accessdate=2008-05-22 |publisher=Pitchfork Media|author=Paul Thompson }}
- {{web cite|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003850675 |title=Metallica Scores Fifth Straight No. 1 Album |date=2008-09-17 |publisher=Billboard}}
- {{web cite |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/47584-okkervil-river-golden-opportunities-mixtape-mp3 |title=New Music: Okkervil River: Golden Opportunities Mixtape [1] |publisher=Pitchfork}}
- {{web cite |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/49255-the-wrens-charles-bissell-joins-okkervil-river |title=Pitchfork: The Wrens' Charles Bissell Joins Okkervil River |publisher=Pitchfork Media |accessdate=2008-03-12}}