Dear John Letters were a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

-based rock band made up of Robb Benson, Richard Davidson, Cassady Laton, and

Johnny Sangster Johnny Sangster is an American musician, record producer, and recording engineer. Professional career Johnny Sangster is a Seattle-based recording engineer, musician, and producer. As a musician he is known for The Sharing Patrol, Dear John Let ...

Formation and history

Robb Benson was born in

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, and lived most of his early life in the area. Benson's first band was the Seattle-based

Nevada Bachelors Nevada Bachelors were an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1997. The band's lineup consisted of Robb Benson (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard), Mike Squires (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Ben Brunn (bass, backing vocals). Du ...

, formed in 1997, who received national interest. When they disbanded, he recorded the ''Songs about Songs'' EP. Benson then formed Dear John Letters, who released three albums. Benson and Johnny Sangster (who had produced the first Nevada Bachelors album and ''Songs About Songs'') also collaborated on ''Sangster Meets Benson/Benson Meets Sangster'', an album of experimental pop. When Dear John Letters went on hiatus, Robb Benson continued to record solo albums and launched other projects. Dear John Letters is not active, but did perform in 2009 for Robb's 40th birthday.

Releases

The first Dear John Letters album ''Rewriting the Wrongs'' was released in 2001 on the Roam Records label, and was produced by Johnny Sangster. Its music style was described as being influenced by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

. A second album ''Unbroken'' was released in 2002 also by Roam Records and again produced by Johnny Sangster. The sound was described as more refined than their first recording. In 2003, the band moved to Foodchain records for their third album ''Stories of Our Lives''. The album was well-received, and reached #34 on the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

charts.

Band members

* Robb Benson (lead vocals, guitar) was nominated for the

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Best Seattle Songwriter award three years in a row (2003, 2004, and 2005). * Richard Davidson (bass) has also performed with The Radio Nationals, The Young Sportsmen, and Mopsey. * Cassady Laton (drums) has also played with Robb Benson in Dept. of Energy and Stereo Embers. * Johnny Sangster (lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) is also a member of The Tripwires and has produced significant local artists, such as

The Posies The Posies were an American power pop group. The band was formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, United States, by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. Their music has its origins in Merseybeat and the Hollies. They are i ...

. * Michelle Price (lyrics) does not play an instrument, but wrote most of the Dear John Letters lyrics.

Other projects

Robb Benson & the Shelk

Through the years, Robb Benson has released a number of solo albums in between or during stints with bands. Starting in 2013, Benson began crediting his albums as "Robb Benson & the Shelk" even though he writes, plays, and produces everything on these releases.

Dept. of Energy

Dept of Energy is a Seattle-area band started by Robb Benson when Dear John Letters went on hiatus. The band includes Robb Benson (vocals, guitar), Ty Bailie (keyboards) formerly of Ego Band USA, and Cassady Laton (drums).

The Glass Notes

The Glass Notes were Robb Benson (guitar, vocals), Jake Uitti (bass), Perry Morgan (drums), and Tim Dijulio (lead guitar). Uitti writes poetry, which Benson turns into songs.

The Great Um

The Great Um are Robb Benson (drummer), Caleb Thompson (singer, guitar), and Jake Uitti (bassist).

Stereo Embers

Stereo Embers were a Seattle-area band with Robb Benson (vocals), Tim Dijulio (lead guitar), Gwon Chang (bass), and Cassady Laton (drums).

The Young Sportsmen

The Young Sportsmen is a Seattle-area band composed of Richard Davidson (bass, vocals), Wesley Nelson (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Ryan Maxwell (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Jeff Roeser (percussion). Davidson joined The Young Sportsmen when Dear John Letters went on hiatus.

Discography

Dear John Letters

;LPs * 2000: ''Rewriting the Wrongs'' (Roam Records 4) * 2002: ''Unbroken'' (Roam Records 9) * 2003: ''Stories of Our Lives'' (Foodchain Records 10)

Dept. of Energy

;LPs * 2007: ''Held by Waits'' (Roam Records 16) * 2009: ''Faster'' (Roam Records 17) ;EPs * 2006: ''EP'' (Roam Records)

Stereo Embers

;EPs * 2014: ''Limited Edition EP'' (Bandcamp) * 2015: ''Code of the Sound'' (Audio & Video Labs, Inc. / Stereo Embers 5638549086) ;Singles *2016: ''Wrong Way/Ways of the World'' (HockyTalkter Records)

Robb Benson

;LPs * 2002: ''De Stella Nova'' (Roam Records) * 2004: ''The Tree Mind'' (Roam Records) * 2006: ''A Collection of Songs I Forgot to Tell You About'' (Roam Records) ;EPs * 2002: ''Songs About Songs'' (Roam Records 3)

Rob Benson & the Shelk

;LPs * 2013: Cursive Falls From the Sky (self-released) * 2014: Seen Too Much (self-released) * 2014: SHELK III (self-released) * 2015: We made it this far in pretend (self-released) * 2016: Shelk Island (self-released) * 2016: Jump the Shelk (self-released) ;EPs * 2014: The 4th Wave Of Wigby (self-released)

Robb Benson & Johnny Sangster

;LPs * 2002: ''Sangster Meets Benson/Benson Meets Sangster'' (Roam Records 5)

The Glass Notes

* 2010: Dust and Hours (Roam Records) * 2012: As the Building Crumbles (self-released)

The Great Um

* 2013: What The People Want (Bandcamp) * 2014: Everybody Now (Bandcamp) * 2015: Never Been There (Bandcamp)

The Young Sportsmen

;LPs * 2007: ''Death to Palaces'' (self-released) * 2008: ''If You Want It'' (Unsmashable) ;EPs *2005: ''The Familiar Glow of Colliding Particles'' (Unsmashable)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Musical groups from Seattle Rock music groups from Washington (state)