Will Sheff (born July 7, 1976) is the frontman for the

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

-based indie band

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 beg ...

(1998–present). Originally from

Meriden, New Hampshire Meriden is an unincorporated community 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 Route 120 passes through t ...

, he is also a founding member and co-songwriter (along with former Okkervil bandmate

Jonathan Meiburg Jonathan Meiburg is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead singer and songwriter for Shearwater. Biography Meiburg was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 1, 1976. His father, Stan Meiburg, was an influential environmental pol ...

) for

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 tub ...

(2001–2009), another Austin band. Sheff writes and performs many songs as a solo artist while juggling his commitments to Okkervil River and Shearwater, and has released one album as a solo artist. As well as writing and singing songs, he plays guitar, piano, banjo, and harmonica. Sheff attended Kimball Union Academy, where his creativity was encouraged by a teacher named Simon Harrold, and was an English major at

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. Sheff has collaborated with The Mendoza Line on the duet "Aspect of an Old Maid" and played the piano on the Palaxy Tracks album Cedarland. With Okkervil River, he produced Roky Erickson's 2010 album '' True Love Cast Out All Evil'' and provided backing musicianship. He has produced an upcoming album by the 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 before the service was shut down. He also contributed background vocals to

The New Pornographers The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...

' 2010 album, ''Together''. In fall of 2022, he released his first full-length solo album on ATO Records, "Nothing Special."

Discography

Albums

*''Nothing Special'' ( ATO Records, 2022)

Singles

*''Will Sheff Covers Charles Bissell, Charles Bissell Covers Will Sheff'' ( Jagjaguwar, 2008)

References

External links

Okkervil River's official siteShearwater's official site
Musicians from Texas Living people 1976 births American indie rock musicians Macalester College alumni People from Plainfield, New Hampshire Okkervil River members Shearwater (band) members Musicians from New Hampshire {{US-rock-musician-stub