The Long Winters is an American indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington founded in 2001.

Singer-songwriter John Roderick was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. He later returned to Seattle, formed the Bun Family Players and the The Western State Hurricanes. Following the collapse of the latter, he acted as touring keyboardist for Harvey Danger. In 2001, Harvey Danger singer/songwriter Sean Nelson suggested that he and Roderick record an album with each penning half of the songs. Death Cab for Cutie band member Chris Walla had recently opened up the Hall of Justice studio in Seattle and agreed to help them record.

Roderick recruited Joe Bass of Sky Cries Mary and Brian Young of Fountains of Wayne to flesh out several of the songs, and gradually the album evolved to feature only Roderick's songs. After several months, the debut album, “The Worst You Can Do Is Harm” was issued in 2002.

Roderick traveled to New York City, where he played solo shows and quickly began to pen new songs, several of which would eventually be included on The Long Winters' second album, 2003’s “When I Pretend to Fall.”

Roderick later traveled back to Seattle and was joined by Chris Caniglia, former Western State Hurricanes drummer Michael Shilling and Eric Corson on bass and The Long Winters were officially born. Nelson offered to sing harmony vocals on a number of songs at the band's first live gig. He ended up casually performing with the band for their first few shows before committing to full-time enrollment.

The original trio responsible for “The Worst You Can Do Is Harm,” Roderick, Nelson and Walla, is often considered the original incarnation of the band. Roderick and Nelson, along with recruits Corson and Shilling were the core players behind “When I Pretend to Fall,” with Nelson having replaced Caniglia as the band's keyboardist. Shilling eventually quit in December 2003. With the best wishes of The Long Winters, Nelson left in March 2004 to rekindle his former band Harvey Danger.

At the time of Nelson's departure, The Long Winters had recently begun rehearsing with Shilling's replacement for the band's 2004 tours, former Death Cab for Cutie percussionist Michael Schorr. Confronted with a double blow to the band's line-up, Roderick took opportunity to reinvent the band again. Thus, the leaner three-piece version of The Long Winters was born, featuring Roderick, Corson and Michael Schorr.

Schorr left the band shortly after completing his first tour. Roderick continued to do small promotional events and shows throughout the latter half of 2004 and 2005, often previewing a handful of new Long Winters songs.

The next incarnation of The Long Winters featured Roderick on vocals, guitars, and keyboard, Corson on bass and back-up vocals and Nabil Ayers on drums. The band did a tour supporting Keane in October 2005 in support of an EP released October 2005, titled “Ultimatum.” Roderick did a solo mini tour through Europe in May 2006 to promote the third full-length LP, “Putting the Days to Bed,” which was released in July 2006.

The Long Winters released a split single with Spiral Stairs in September 2010. Their track was titled “Connections In Nashville.”

Musician, Entertainers, Performances, Live performances, Celebrity Music,