Tarkio

Tarkio came together in 1996 inside the college town of Missoula, Montana, taking its name from a modest western community in the same state. Guitarist Gibson Hartwell, bassist Louis Stein, drummer Brian Collins, pedal steel player Kevin Suggs, and singer-songwriter Colin Meloy—who would later join the Decemberists—made up the lineup. The group explored a sound close to that of established college-rock acts such as the Go-Betweens, the Waterboys, and R.E.M., mixing alternative country with Americanized Brit-pop and building a modest yet devoted audience in the region. From 1996 through 1999 the band issued two releases: the full-length I Guess I Was Hoping for Something More and the EP Sea Songs for Landlocked Sailors. In 2006 both appeared again on the Kill Rock Stars label inside the two-disc compilation Omnibus.