Colin Meloy

Born in Helena, MT, Meloy first began performing in R.E.M.-inspired outfit Happy Cactus during his high school years before moving to Oregon where he studied English and Theatre for two years. After returning to his home state to enrol in a Creative Writing program, Meloy resumed his music career when he formed Tarkio, an indie-rock quartet who built a loyal following on the Montana live circuit and released 1998 debut, I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More, before splitting a year later. Following a move to Portland, Meloy met bassist Nate Query and keyboardist Jenny Conlee, and after scoring a silent film together, the trio began working on a wide-ranging indie-folk sound under the guise of The Decemberists, with Meloy taking on the roles of lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter. The band's first two albums (Castaways and Cutouts, Her Majesty the Decemberists) arrived with little fanfare, but with their fondness for audience interaction and historical re-enactments, they soon developed a reputation as a must-see live act, and in 2005, began to approach the fringes of the mainstream with Picaresque. In the same year, Meloy ventured into solo territory for the first time with a limited edition E.P. featuring six Morrissey covers and embarked on an accompanying tour, before sticking to a similar formula with 2006's Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins. Meloy then returned to The Decemberists for 2006's major-label debut, The Crane Wife, before unveiling his first full-length LP with the lo-fi live recording, Colin Meloy Sings Live! In 2008, and tackling the classic soul of Sam Cooke on his third covers E.P. in the same year.Meloy's most ambitious work arrived to date in 2009 with The Decemberists' fifth album, The Hazards of Love, a sprawling rock opera based on a woman's relationship with a shape-shifting tree-dweller, which also featured cameos from the likes of My Morning Jacket's Jim James and My Brightest Diamond. Two years later, the band completed their remarkable rise to fame when The King is Dead unexpectedly topped the Billboard 200, selling nearly 100,000 copies in its first week and picking up two Grammy nominations for "Down By The Water." Later that year, Meloy published his first children's story, Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles Book 1, a fantasy novel about two seventh-graders drawn into a hidden magical forest. Illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis, the book was followed by a sequel, Under Wildwood, in 2012, and a third instalment, Wildwood Imperium, two years later. After returning to the music scene with 2013's Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks, Meloy regrouped with The Decemberists for their seventh LP, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, which hit the US Top 10 in 2015.