the songwriters official site of the band Dear John Letters

Updated- June 2009

What has Happened to the Dear John Letters?

Same story for many bands I guess, so man different directions came at us in life & the band finally shut things down...

It had came a long way, from a demo writing duo, to a trio, to a full on rock band!

It was super fun while it lasted:

-Robb Benson (singer/songwriter/guitarist/co-producer)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW:

Johnny Sangster (Lead guitar) is Mr. Producer in town and also fills in for a bunch of rad bands including John ramburgs new group "the Tripwires"

The Poet Michelle Price "Auer" is now married to Jon Auer of the Posies, she works at the stranger and is writing and blogging away.

Cassady and Myself play in a group called DEPT OF ENERGY, and you can catch us about once a month around Seattle playing shows.

This year (2009) we will play the Fremont Fair and Bumbershoot.

I also play solo shows about 3 to 5 times a year around Seattle... catch one if you can!

Richard Davidson (bass) played with the YOUNG SPORTSMEN for a while, what a great band! He then got married and had a baby girl... they are busy being a family right about now. I am sure we have not seen the last of Richard in the music scene.

------------------

We believe Dear John Letters released 3 very solid records and we absolutly love that many of you are discovering those records today!

---------

The latest news is that we are all super busy doing our different stuff, but that never stops us from talking about a show.

If you would like to try to talk the band into playing a show, drop me a line. I will never promise anything, but we did a sort of half reunion show a year or so back with the Posies, so you just never know. I guess it is all about timing and what everyone else has going on. If you want us to play some cool show let me know and perhaps I can at least start the conversation with the ol' gang.

-RB

***************************************************************************************************************

DJL LINKS:

So here is Michelle's blog.

Michelle penned most of the DJL lyrics, and had solid input in the creation of the group.

A few years back we disscontinued our writing colaboration, and the group continued on without her.

Now the group is behind us... so goes it.

However Michelle is very busy with many projects now, and you can read all the stuff she is up to here.

Here is Johnny Sangster's site, you can link to him if you want a rad producer at a reasonable cost!

Johnny also writes a lot about his work and life on the site. He is to busy to update it because he tours to Europe and stuff... lucky bastard! Oh well... Johnny is one of the greatest musical hero's I know, he deserves great success.

Here is our bass player Richard Davidson's other band site, The just got back together, however he only was in the group for a few months before deciding he had too much going on with his family to keep it rolling. They are still very much a worth while band to catch!

Cass and Myself as pictured below are in a new band with 3 CD's available on itunes!

DEAR JOHN LETTERS PRESS:

Centered around multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Robb Benson, Dear John Letters' third full-length album establishes the band as an ever more unique force in American indie rock. They may recall bands like Guided by Voices and the Weakerthans, but they still manage to bring something new and fresh to an overcrowded genre. A few tracks on here are certainly reminiscent of R.E.M., Benson even sounding like a young and eager Michael Stipe on "Creation Myth" and "Bipolar." Although, an even more present influence is David Bowie -- from the Hunky Dory -like "Sorry to Sorry" to the acoustic psych-folk of the title track. Inspirations and influences aside, Dear John Letters have no problem coming through on their own premises. Benson's voice is unique and energetic, and the performances on here are always insistent and engaging. Dear John Letters are growing more confident and clever with each album, and Stories of Our Lives proves the Seattle quartet to be at the top of its game.

-Stein Haukland (Ink 19)

Seattle's Dear John Letters is beautifully burdened with brilliance on Stories of Our Lives falling outside of any genre description more focused than pop. Songs touch on everything from Built To Spill, to the Beatles, Eels, Harvey Danger, and Ocean Colour Scene. There are big rock riffs such as on the dance-party waiting to happen track “Bipolar” which opens with pure rock doubled guitar goodness into power chords and enough pauses to make goatee scratching hipster intellectuals shake their asses, or at least nod in mild approval. Stories of Our Lives opens with a fun but morose bass riff then wailing and guitars softly careening into and around each other on “Below the Belt”, more swayable than danceable, with vocals just slightly off key, just awkward enough to not go home with the Prom Queen or her understudy, and thus this is Indie Rock at its strongest. Usually a weak spot on other albums, even the acoustic numbers work, sounding like Wilco circa Being There on “You Always Win” or the fast rocker title track “Stories of Our Lives.” Stories feels like a darker Beatles album ran through the mind of an Indie rocker. It’s not instantly accessible, but definitely enjoyable.

- Alex Ingman (actionman magazine)

I've been listening a lot lately to former Nevada Bachelors singer Robb Benson and Johnny Sangster's Sangster Meets Benson album. A great collection of songs that was created by each person taking the other's recorded track and embellishing it, back and forth until it reached finalization. That was a great collection of catchy melodic pop that reminded me a lot of Guided By Voices. I had only heard one song by the duo's latest band, the wonderfully named Dear John Letters until I got sent this, their second CD. Like the Nevada Bachelors, Benson pens delightfully catchy tunes with sweet vocal harmonies by Benson and Sangster that recall '60s outfits like the Zombies and (gasp!) the Beatles, as well as lots of '70s powerpop stuff. There are ringing electric guitars and fine acoustic strumming, some keys here and there, and a great sound overall. About half of this was recorded at Benson's home studio, the other half at Egg, the Seattle studio where Johnny engineers for the most part. There's a real warmth and depth to the material here, especially on songs like "Kings and Queens," "Picture Show" and the rollicking "For The Sake Of Love," which features some cool '50s rock and roll style piano tinkling.
© 2003 - Alan Wright

Too jittery for emo and too quirky for pop, Seattle's Dear John Letters combine a variety of genres into their difficult-to-classify sound. Although the band works well together and producer/guitarist/engineer Johnny Sangster (Mudhoney ,the Posies ) certainly had substantial input, this is pretty much Robb Benson 's baby. It's his keening voice, often stream-of-consciousness lyrics, and overall vision that make -- or break -- the group's third release. Tightening up their attack and re-recording a handful of songs from their sophomore effort, Unbroken ("Disappointed," "My Volcano," "Sorry to Sorry," "We Could Be Angels"), this is certainly their most focused and cohesive album. Taking lyrics from a variety of sources, including old girlfriends' poetry (hence the band's name), Benson spits and talk-sings songs in a cracked, wobbly, trembling voice, somewhere between the Kinks 'Ray Davies ,Ian Hunter , and Squeeze 's Glenn Tilbrook .Benson 's much-noted McCartney-isms have taken a back seat to his minor-key side, which drives vaguely pop tunes like the dark "I Still Scar," an emotionally overwrought song as intense as its title where Benson plays all the instruments, including drums and piano. Thankfully, the open-wound agony of that tune is offset by the generally upbeat music of "The Drowning," whose peppy beat and hooky chorus mask downbeat lyrics such as, "Don't fight the drowning/The struggle makes it worse." "My head is my worst enemy," writes Benson in "Disappointed," and there's plenty of proof of that here. But for those who can feel his pain, Stories of Our Lives is a minor masterpiece. At 14 tracks and just under 50 minutes, Benson proves he's one of his generation's most talented, if depressed, pop voices.

Led by singer/songwriter Robb Benson , Dear John Letters is an alternative pop/rock and indie rock band with a knack for introspective, contemplative, and emotionally complex lyrics. Musically, Dear John Letters is usually melodic and tuneful -- even though the band's thought-provoking lyrics don't always go out of their way to be accessible, the melodies are easy to absorb. Dear John Letters' main influences include R.E.M. ,Elvis Costello ,David Bowie , and the Beatles -- that is, the Beatles ' post-1965 work (such as Let It Be , Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road , and the White Album ) more than their early- to mid-'60s recordings. And that combination of influences makes perfect sense when you consider how much the Fab Four influenced R.E.M. ,Costello , and Bowie (as well as countless others -- American, British, and otherwise). Benson has lived in the Pacific Northwest his entire life. The singer/songwriter was born in Mount Vernon, WA, and he was active on the Seattle rock scene at least half a decade before the formation of Dear John Letters. In the mid-'90s, Benson formed a Seattle-based alterna-rock band called the Nevada Bachelors , which acquired a small but enthusiastic cult following in the Pacific Northwest. After recording two albums for the PopLlama label (Carrots & So On and Hello Jupiter ), the Nevada Bachelors broke up -- and Benson went on to record a five-song solo EP titled Songs About Songs . But Benson had no desire to be a full-time solo artist; by 2000, he had formed Dear John Letters. The band's first two albums -- Rewriting the Wrongs in 2000 and Unbroken in 2002 -- were released on the Roam label and had limited distribution. After that, Dear John Letters enjoyed much better distribution when the band signed with the independent, Los Angeles-based Foodchain Records (which had been the home of the all-female metal/punk band Betty Blowtorch ). In 2003, Foodchain released Stories of Our Lives , Dear John Letters' first Foodchain release and third album overall. Joining Benson in Dear John Letters are bassist Richard Davidson, drummer Cassady Laton, and guitarist Johnny Sangster , who is also known for his work as a producer/engineer as well as for his guitar playing. In addition to working with well-known bands like the Posies and Mudhoney ,Sangster produced the first Nevada Bachelors album and Benson 's Songs About Songs EP. Benson and Sangster have also worked together as a duo; their duet project Sangster Meets Benson Benson Meets Sangster (released on Roam in 2002) was recorded between Rewriting the Wrongs and Stories of Our Lives . ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide