Biography
Robb Benson fronts Dear John Letters as its singer and principal songwriter, steering an alternative pop/rock and indie rock outfit known for introspective, contemplative lyrics marked by emotional depth. The group favors tuneful, melodic arrangements that let those thought-provoking words register easily even when they avoid straightforward accessibility. Its core touchstones are R.E.M., Elvis Costello, David Bowie, and the Beatles, with the last of those exerting greater pull through post-1965 works such as Let It Be, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, and the White Album than through the band’s earlier or mid-1960s output. Such affinities fit naturally, since the Fab Four shaped the paths of R.E.M., Costello, and Bowie along with many other American, British, and international acts.
A lifelong Pacific Northwest resident, Benson was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, and had already spent at least five years active in the Seattle rock scene before Dear John Letters took shape. In the mid-1990s he started the Seattle alterna-rock band the Nevada Bachelors, which built a modest yet devoted cult following across the region. The group released two albums on the PopLlama label—Carrots & So On and Hello Jupiter—before splitting up, prompting Benson to issue the five-song solo EP Songs About Songs. Reluctant to remain a full-time solo performer, he assembled Dear John Letters by 2000. Its first two albums, Rewriting the Wrongs in 2000 and Unbroken in 2002, came out on the Roam label with only limited distribution.
Wider availability followed once the band signed to the independent Los Angeles-based Foodchain Records, previously home to the all-female metal/punk band Betty Blowtorch. Foodchain issued Stories of Our Lives in 2003, the band’s third album overall and its first under the new label. Completing the lineup alongside Benson are bassist Richard Davidson, drummer Cassady Laton, and guitarist Johnny Sangster, who is equally noted for his production and engineering work. Sangster has produced for the Posies and Mudhoney, handled the Nevada Bachelors’ debut album, and engineered Benson’s Songs About Songs EP. Benson and Sangster also recorded together as a duo; their project Sangster Meets Benson Benson Meets Sangster appeared on Roam in 2002 in the period between Rewriting the Wrongs and Stories of Our Lives.
A lifelong Pacific Northwest resident, Benson was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, and had already spent at least five years active in the Seattle rock scene before Dear John Letters took shape. In the mid-1990s he started the Seattle alterna-rock band the Nevada Bachelors, which built a modest yet devoted cult following across the region. The group released two albums on the PopLlama label—Carrots & So On and Hello Jupiter—before splitting up, prompting Benson to issue the five-song solo EP Songs About Songs. Reluctant to remain a full-time solo performer, he assembled Dear John Letters by 2000. Its first two albums, Rewriting the Wrongs in 2000 and Unbroken in 2002, came out on the Roam label with only limited distribution.
Wider availability followed once the band signed to the independent Los Angeles-based Foodchain Records, previously home to the all-female metal/punk band Betty Blowtorch. Foodchain issued Stories of Our Lives in 2003, the band’s third album overall and its first under the new label. Completing the lineup alongside Benson are bassist Richard Davidson, drummer Cassady Laton, and guitarist Johnny Sangster, who is equally noted for his production and engineering work. Sangster has produced for the Posies and Mudhoney, handled the Nevada Bachelors’ debut album, and engineered Benson’s Songs About Songs EP. Benson and Sangster also recorded together as a duo; their project Sangster Meets Benson Benson Meets Sangster appeared on Roam in 2002 in the period between Rewriting the Wrongs and Stories of Our Lives.
Albums
