Based in New York City, the modern rock outfit the Feathermerchants brings together songwriter, guitarist, and bouzouki player Pete Veru with guitarist, bouzouki player, and producer Jim Chapdelaine, drummer and percussionist John Peckman, bassist Drew Glackin, and vocalists Alison Winston and Erin O'Hara. Veru, who started out as a junk bond salesman, picked up the guitar at age 29 and fused melodic lines and instruments drawn from his family's Greek heritage with pop song forms and arrangements. Glackin, once Veru's roommate, entered the band on guitar before moving to bass following Chapdelaine's arrival; Chapdelaine had already received an Emmy Award for his composing and production on the PBS documentary The Making of "Amistad". The group captured the Best Artist honor at 1998's Intel Music Festival and, the next year, issued its self-titled debut on the independent label Innocent 12th St. Five years later the Feathermerchants abandoned their worldbeat leanings in pursuit of a richer American pop texture. That long-awaited second album, Unarmed Against the Dark, also marked the arrival of vocalist Shannon Kennedy, who stepped in for Alison Winston and Erin O'Hara. The Street Theater EP appeared the following year. Last Man on Earth, released in 2006, reached CMJ's Top 200 Albums chart and stood as the Feathermerchants' strongest album debut to that point.
