August 23, 2008
We don't know too much about it ourselves, but according to the Denver Film Society, in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention, Okkervil River is scheduled to appear on August 25 at Red Rocks for Cinemocracy Rocks. Also on the bill are Jill Sobule and Apples In Stereo, along with the screening of several of the top entrants in the Cinemocracy Film Festival contest. Buy your tickets at the society's webpage. You can read a little more about the event on the official Cinemocracy blog.
August 18, 2008
In part 1 of an interview given backstage at Schubas, Will talks of the unnerving Belgian audiences and feeling like Bon Jovi. We'll be sure and let you know when part 2 is posted.
Also, Okkervil River has set up a YouTube
channel where they have begun posting "stand in" videos for
The Stand Ins. They kicked off the project last week with the
album's promotional video. In one of two videos released today, "The
Stand Ins Intro," Will explains the concept of this endeavor: Each
song on The Stand Ins now has a sibling video performed by a
different artist that the band has befriended over the last ten years. Carl
Newman of The New Pornographers serves as the first stand in by dueting with
Will on "Lost
Coastlines." Videos of the recreations will be released in the
order that they appear on the album. Since Will encouraged the artists to
tear apart the songs, it should be interesting to see what is to come.
August 12, 2008
The publicity machine is picking up steam. There is now a trailer for The Stand Ins up on Vimeo and the band's website. Also, for those of you who didn't already buy it from iTunes, Jagjaguwar is now offering "Lost Coastlines" for free.
August 11, 2008
As of today, The Stand Ins is available for pre-order from Jagjaguwar.
Those who pre-order will have access to a digital download in advance of the release date and will receive a "cover art poster set" (presumably art to both The Stage Names and The Stand Ins).
August 10, 2008
Stops in the Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway are now included in the upcoming European tour. The CONCERTS page has the exact dates, venues and cities.
August 9, 2008
Varg Vikernes var en dum unge
While in Norway this week for the Øya Festival, Will, Lauren and Scott ambled through a very cool looking café, treating its patrons to a live version of "Lost Coastlines." Watch the video and listen to Will's comments on black metal artist and convicted murderer Varg Vikernes on NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation).
Wikipedia entry on
Varg Vikernes.
August 8, 2008
Uncut magazine's September 2008 sampler CD, Roll With It, contains "16 songs about drinking, dope and disorderly conduct." Evidently, suicide is classified as "disorderly conduct" since "John Allyn Smith Sails" makes its appearance on the sampler.
Through good, old-fashioned detective work, DTO discovered that the guitar and mandolin player currently touring with Okkervil River is Lauren Gurgiolo. Learn more about Lauren on her Website and MySpace page.
August 7, 2008
One more date has been added to the fall tour. Okkervil River will be playing the Metro in Chicago on Tuesday, October 14. Tickets will be on sale Saturday, August 9 at noon on the Metro website.
City Arts & Lectures, Inc. hosts Will Sheff "in conversation and song" on Wednesday, December 17 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Tickets on sale now.
July 29, 2008
You can now purchase from iTunes the first track, "Lost Coastlines," from Okkervil River's upcoming album, The Stand Ins.
Okkervil River is scheduled to perform their Lollapalooza debut this Saturday, August 2nd on the PlayStation 3 Stage from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Not lucky enough to be packed into Grant Park under the scorching Chicago sun to witness the debauchery firsthand? Fear not! That evening at 9 p.m. (EDT),
XM Exclusives will broadcast Okkervil River's Lollapalooza set in its entirety as part of its Lollapalooza 2008: This Weekend on XMX! series. XMX will then re-air the Okkervil segment at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Program update: The Lollapalooza broadcast was limited to XM Radio, and was not aired on XM Radio Online...sorry to get your hopes up!
July 17, 2008
Fall European continent dates announced! The full tour will wind them through Denmark, France, Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Italy and Austria. Visit CONCERTS for complete details.
The Insound 20 Design Project unveiled limited edition t-shirt, hoodies and posters designed by Jason Munn for 20 of their favorite bands, including Okkervil River. For a 10% discount, use coupon code: insoundtwenty10 (valid until August 31, 2008).
Additionally, Okkervil River's name is included on the special 21st design. All profits from the sale of the 21st shirt and poster will benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring, writing and publishing organization dedicated to providing free literacy programs for children.
July 15, 2008
The soundtrack to the upcoming movie, In Search Of A Midnight Kiss, will feature two Okkervil River songs--the previously released "Lines" and the unreleased "Mermaid"--and three previously released Shearwater songs--"My Good Deed" (Sheff), "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine" (Sheff) and "The Kind" (Meiburg).
June 17, 2008
Following their Lollapalooza set, which is scheduled for 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. on August 2, Okkervil River will be doing an official Aftershow that evening at Schubas. Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 21.
May 30, 2008
Okkervil River unveiled the track list and album cover for The Stand Ins on their website and Pitchfork today. The best disclosure of the day, however, was the birth of the Okkervil River Fan Community, courtesy of Front Gate Tickets. Buy your tickets now via this new pre-sale option for the Fall 2008 North American tour, also announced today (visit CONCERTS for the latest dates).
May 22, 2008
Change that new EP announcement to read LP! Pitchfork announced today that Okkervil River will release The Stand Ins, a new full-length album, on September 9th. The Stand Ins, a sequel to last year's The Stage Names, will contain songs originally conceived for inclusion on a double-disk TSN release, along with a few elusive studio versions of old tracks which Okkervil River fans have been eagerly anticipating and some new tunes.
May 21, 2008
The accumulation of festival dates and travel miles for Okkervil River continues...they will be appearing at the Treasure Island Festival on September 21 in San Francisco. Tickets go on sale May 29th.
May 17, 2008
In Down The Oubliette's absence over the last month, there have been several developments in the Okkervil River camp, most notably the departure of Jonathan Meiburg. Jonathan, a member of the band since 1999, announced through his publicist on May 12th his amicable disengagement from Okkervil River in order to concentrate exclusively on Shearwater. Shearwater's fifth LP, Rook, will be released June 3rd on Matador Records.
New EP!
Will confirmed in a Tiny Mix Tapes interview last month that The Stage Names Appendix will be out this fall.
New concert dates!
Is there a music festival near your home town? Chances are Okkeril River will be swinging by. The band is hitting the festival circuit this year, including appearances at All Tomorrow's Parties, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and many more throughout the US and Europe. Visit DTO's CONCERT PAGE for the full list of upcoming 2008 shows, including dates for a November 2008 UK tour.
New live media appearances!
Pictchfork.tv. Fall 2007.
Stripped down and monkeyed-up, Okkervil River performs on top of the Pitchfork roof in midtown Manhattan for the "Don't Look Down" series.
WYEP Studio Session. April 12, 2008.
Don't miss Will's slower solo version of "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" and the first broadcast performance of "Lost Coastlines," a song that the band debuted live October 8, 2006 in Chicago, which will appear on the upcoming EP.
Lounge Acts on WOXY. April 24, 2008.
Download MP3s of the four songs performed on WOXY from The Smudge of Ashen Fluff blog.
Cooking With Rock Stars. May 12, 2008.
Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg take their first ride in a limousine in order to bring you recipes for Chocolate Caramel Tart with Sea Salt and Split Pea Soup.
April 7, 2008
The lineup for Lollapalooza 2008 was announced today. Get your tickets for the August 1 - 3, 2008 event before they sell out. Okkervil River will be there.
April 4, 2008
Okkervil River plays tomorrow night at The Granada Theater in Dallas with the one and only Black Joe Lewis (who is causing quite a ruckus down in Texas!).
March 14, 2008
Okkervil River plays the Harp (R.I.P.) party at the French Legation Museum tomorrow around 6 p.m., as well as the SoundExchange/Mojo showcase at Stubb's at 9 p.m. Roky Erickson follows Okkervil at 10, so I'm still hoping for a joint effort "Don't Shake Me Lucifer" in addition to "You're Gonna Miss Me!"
March 13, 2008
Okkervil River plays the Schubas Party at Yard Dog at 3:50 p.m. today.
Last night at the Austin Music Awards, the best indie rock band of all time (we are biased) won the "Indie Rock Band of the Year" award.
March 12, 2008
A Pitchfork article officially confirms that the SXSW shows will be Okkervil River's last performances with Brian Cassidy as a full-time touring member. Brian's replacement on the spring and summer tour will be The Wrens' Charles Bissell.
March 2, 2008
Announced last week, Okkervil River will be playing the Sasquatch! Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington. Tickets for this May 24 - 26 event go on sale March 8 at noon.
February 27, 2008
A second Okkervil River SXSW appearance has surfaced. The band is scheduled to play the Schubas Party at Yard Dog at 3:50 p.m. on March 13.
February 22, 2008
Okkervil River's tour of Australia and New Zealand starts tomorrow in Adelaide.
February 14, 2008
Jonathan begins his solo tour tomorrow! He's opening for Bill Callahan, through February and into March.
See Jonathan's Concert Page for details.
February 8, 2008
Okkervil River's show at Paradiso in Amsterdam (February 9) will be filmed and available live on Fabchannel.com.
February 7, 2008
A video of Dailymotion's latest Ukulele Session posted today. Will Sheff, Brian Cassidy and Justin Sherburn perform "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" and "A King And A Queen" in a locker room in Perwez, Belgium. Okkervil River plays Stuk in Leuven tonight.
February 6, 2008
Will Sheff stopped in for an interview with BBC-6's Steve Lamacq earlier today. Okkervil River were his New Favourite Band (obviously). Will's segment can be heard at approximately the 17:41:39 mark, immediately after M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes."
February 3, 2008
The Austin Chronicle ran an article last Friday announcing that Okkervil River will headline this year's Austin Music Awards on March 12th, along with Roky Erickson. The event, part of SXSW, will take place at the Austin Music Hall.
February 2, 2008
The UK and European tour starts today in Belfast. A few TICKETS are still available.
January 31, 2008
Lots of news today. In addition to the New Pornographers' dates and the date with Black Joe Lewis in Dallas, TX, Okkervil River has announced two more headlining dates in Memphis, TN and Bloomington, IN with Howlin' Rain. See the updated dates on our Concert Page.
The New Pornographers' site posted its announcement of the full tour with Okkervil River this afternoon. Get your TICKETS before they're gone!
Though no official announcement or full list of dates has been released yet, some more venues are advertising tickets for The New Pornographers/Okkervil River shows. See the latest dates on our Concert Page.
January 29, 2008
Okkervil River is scheduled to perform at the Granada Theater in Dallas, TX on April 5th. This show, apparently, is not part of The New Pornographers' tour. Buy tickets on the Granada Theatre site.
January 28, 2008
The New Pornographers' ticketing site has a banner reading, "The New Pornographers with Special Guests Okkervil River." Currently, none of the dates are posted, and no official announcement has yet been released. However, we have a few of those April dates on our Concert Page.
January 26, 2008
Jonathan will be on a solo tour, opening for Bill Callahan, in February and March. See Jonathan's Concert Page for details.
January 20, 2008
MusikExpress's Backstage Sessions features Will's solo versions of Loudon Wainwright's "Motel Blues" and Okkervil's "Savannah Smiles." Be warned. Both will wreck you.
January 19, 2008
The Black Cab Sessions Chapter 27 features Will Sheff performing a solo version of Big Star's "Big Black Car." It's brilliant!
January 10, 2008
The first of the 2008 US tour dates are starting to come in! Carnegie Library Music Hall doesn't list Okkervil River (nor the other band scheduled!) on its website yet, but check back here for updates as we get them!
December 14, 2007
Will Sheff answers fans' questions in an exclusive interview about the Golden Opportunities mixtape in the news section of Okkervil River's website. Thanks for taking the time to indulge us, Will!
December 12, 2007
The Golden Opportunities mixtape is available for download on the Okkervil River website. Recorded live on tour during 2006 and 2007, these cover songs are a grand gift from the band to the fans (And there are pictures, too! Hey, nice feet!).
Pitchfork has an article to accompany the mixtape announcement.
December 4, 2007
Tour dates continue to trickle in, one at a time, it seems. The latest is Melbourne on February 26.
November 28, 2007
The Stage Names lands at #1 on HARP's 50 Best CDs of 2007 list. Congratulations Okkervil River!
November 27, 2007
Italian web magazine indie-eye has a series of video podcasts from an interview with Will Sheff. One of each of the 14 short episodes will be posted daily. The first and second installments are currently available.
November 26, 2007
Another date, at Paradiso in Amsterdam on February 9, has been added to Okkervil River's 2008 tour schedule.
November 24, 2007
A brief note from the road has been posted on Okkervil River.com's news section.
Will mentions Münster, mustard and Molina, along with the video for "A Girl In Port."
(DTO would like to thank Will for making the now obvious connection between bland cheese and Billy Joel!)
November 21, 2007
A video for "A Girl In Port," filmed in Italy in November 2006, is available on You Tube.
Pitchfork has a blurb about it, as well.
November 15, 2007
Videos and mp3s of Okkervil River's acoustic session at Aligre FM 93.1 is available on Planet Claire. This is from the press tour Will Sheff and Travis Nelsen did in July 2007.
November 14, 2007
Okkervil River has added two more dates to the Winter '08 European tour. They will be playing Stuk in Leuven, Belgium on February 7 and Doornroosje in Nijmegen, Netherlands on February 10.
November 12, 2007
Okkervil River's Daytrotter sessions are online, along with an interview (Ah, Muppet Murder Mystery memories!).
November 5, 2007
The first leg of Okkervil River's European tour begins in Colchester, UK Tuesday night. Tickets are still available. Check the Concerts page for other tour dates.
November 4, 2007
Okkervil River played the Fun Fun Fun Fest main stage at Waterloo Park, this weekend. That Other Paper wrote a bit about it, and TOP's Kristin Hillery took some fabulous photos.
October 29, 2007
Okkervil River will be playing St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Australia early next year!
The festival hits Adelaide on February 23, Melbourne on February 24th, Brisbane on March 1st, and Sydney on March 2nd.
Performers scheduled include Feist, The Brunettes, Bridezilla, Little Red and Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, among others. For more information, see the festival's My Space profile.
Tickets are on sale November 9th through Moshtix.com, except Brisbane, which is through Oztix.com
(The special presales begin on November 5th, however. Click the individual cities above!).
October 24, 2007
Okkervil River has announced new tour dates! The band will be playing Belfast, Edinburgh and London in February, 2008. Get your tickets, they're going fast!
The November/December issue of HARP magazine is on stands. The Okkervil River article is online.
October 21, 2007
Okkervil River will be featured in the November/December issue of HARP magazine.
Check back soon for a link to the article.
October 17, 2007
Will Sheff is scheduled to perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, October 20, as part of the CMJ Music Marathon.
October 10, 2007
Okkervil River's NPR's World Cafe performance is online.
October 9, 2007
Okkervil River performs on KUT's Music With Jay Trachtenberg.
October 7, 2007
Okkervil River played the last show on the first leg of the current tour last night in Houston.
The European tour begins next month, check the Concerts page for all the details.
October 1, 2007
Okkervil River recorded a session for NPR's World Cafe in Philadelphia, PA.
September 30, 2007
Okkervil River's show from The Rock And Roll Hotel in Washington, DC broadcasts live on NPR's Live Concert Series.
The Live Concert page also features a pre-show interview with Will Sheff and some spectacular live photos.
September 27, 2007
Okkervil River performs on WNYC's Soundcheck.
September 16, 2007
Okkervil River recorded a session for Daytrotter.com. Check back soon to find when you will be able to hear it!
September 13, 2007
Jonathan Meiburg has scheduled a solo performance in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for September 27th.
Check his Solo Page for more information.
September 10, 2007
Because of our own technical difficulties, we were unable to tell you about the cancellation--due to technical difficulties--of the KEXP in-studio performance. However, Okkervil River will still rock Neumo's tonight!
September 9, 2007
Tonight Okkervil River plays the first Canadian date on this tour. The Stage Names holds at number 3 on ChartAttack, which tracks Canadian Campus/Community Radio Airplay.
September 6, 2007
Tonight at 6 p.m., Okkervil River plays an In-store show at Amoeba Records in San Francisco!
September 5, 2007
Tonight Okkervil River plays a Sold Out show at Independent in San Francisco!
Tomorrow the guys perform at Amoeba's Haight Street store, at 6 p.m. The store has a limited number of copies of the limited edition CD Sampler
for sale with The Stage Names. For more information, check out its Live Shows page.
Hey Will! Be sure to say hello to Joe Goldmark, or better yet, invite him to sit in for the encore (He does a mean cover of "Helpless.")!
September 3, 2007
Some "Behind-The-Video" still photos with captions, as well as other, interestingly captioned, photos can now be found under "Gallery" in the Media
section of Okkervil River.com.
September 2, 2007
Will talks about his experience (meeting Jeff Goldblum!) on Late Night With Conan O'Brien under "Videos" in the Media section of Okkervil River.com.
Okkervil hits the west coast tomorrow, with a show in San Diego! See Concerts for more tour dates.
August 30, 2007
The fall tour commences in Albuquerque, New Mexico! See Concerts for more tour dates.
Jagjaguwar responds to the leaked video for "Our Life Is Not A Movie, Or Maybe," on You Tube by officially posting the final cut.
You can also watch it on Pitchfork.com.
August 28, 2007
Okkervil River performs "Our Life Is Not A Movie, Or Maybe" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
August 27, 2007
The music video for "Our Life Is Not A Movie, Or Maybe," directed by Margaret Brown (Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt), leaks on TV Guide Broadband's "M Vids" and a poor quality version quickly hits You Tube.
August 24, 2007
Okkervil River in-store performance at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas!
August 18, 2007
Will Sheff performs solo at Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn, New York.
August 17, 2007
The Stage Names debuts at number 62 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart for the week of August 25th.
August 10, 2007
The Stage Names debuts on ChartAttack, which tracks Canadian Campus/Community Radio Airplay, at number 37.
August 08, 2007
Okkervil River's new, official website debuts: www.okkervilriver.com
Jagjaguwar posted an audio podcast on the making of The Stage Names. Listen on iTunes
August 07, 2007
Okkervil River's The Stage Names is released in the US.
The Stage Names Deluxe Edition includes a bonus disc of demos for each album track.
eMusic features the exclusive bonus track, "Love To A Monster."
iTunes features the exclusive bonus track, "Starry Stairs."
July 31, 2007
The Stage Names is streaming in its entirety on Okkervil River's My Space profile.