Will Sheff
Encyclopedia
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
-based indie band Okkervil River (1998–present). Originally from Meriden
Meriden, New Hampshire
Meriden is a village in the eastern part of the town of Plainfield in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. Meriden is home to Kimball Union Academy, a private boarding school....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, he is also a founding member and co-songwriter (along with former Okkervil bandmate Jonathan Meiburg
Jonathan Meiburg
Jonathan Meiburg, born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 1st, 1976, is a multi-instrumentalist musician and the lead singer and songwriter for Shearwater , a band he co-founded with Will Sheff in Austin, Texas. He also shared duties with Sheff as a member of Okkervil River...
) for Shearwater
Shearwater (band)
Shearwater is an American indie rock band formed in Austin, Texas in 1999 by Okkervil River members Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff, although Sheff is no longer with Shearwater.-History:...
(2001–2009), another Austin band. Sheff writes and performs many songs as a solo artist whilst juggling his commitments to Okkervil River and Shearwater, but has released just one single as a solo artist. As well as writing and singing songs, he plays the guitar, the piano, the banjo, and the harmonica.
Sheff attended Kimball Union Academy
Kimball Union Academy
Kimball Union Academy is a private boarding school located in New Hampshire. Founded in 1813, it is the 22nd oldest boarding school in the United States...
and was an English major at Macalester College
Macalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
.
Sheff has collaborated with The Mendoza Line
The Mendoza Line (band)
The Mendoza Line were a rock and roll band whose members began playing together while in college in the mid-1990s in Athens, Georgia, and who eventually settled in Brooklyn. Their name comes from the dismal .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza...
on the duet "Aspect of an Old Maid" and played piano on the Palaxy Tracks album Cedarland. With Okkervil River, he produced Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
's 2010 album True Love Cast Out All Evil
True Love Cast Out All Evil
True Love Cast Out All Evil is the first album of new material released by Roky Erickson in 14 years. Okkervil River is the backing band on the album.-Track listing:#"Devotional Number One" - 2:17#"Ain't Blues Too Sad" - 1:24...
and provided backing musicianship. He has produced an upcoming album by Brooklyn-based band Bird of Youth along with Phil Palazzolo.
Sheff contributed a large amount of original music writing to the articles section of Audiogalaxy
Audiogalaxy
Audiogalaxy is an audio placeshifting service which enables an individual's smartphone or other device to search & play MP3 and AAC files stored on that person's separate, Internet-connected computer, with the help of special software installed on both devices...
before the service was shut down.
He also recently contributed background vocals to The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
' 2010 album, Together.
Singles
- Will Sheff Covers Charles Bissell, Charles Bissell Covers Will Sheff (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
, 2008)