Tracker

In early 1998, John Askew initiated Tracker purely as a studio endeavor while employed as a freelance engineer at Type Foundry Recording in Portland, OR, and serving as a contributor to Tape-Op magazine. Handling recording duties, songwriting, and performance on the majority of instruments himself, he oversaw the release of the project’s debut album Ames in early 2000 through FILMguerrero. Without a permanent ensemble available for live work, Askew assembled a rotating series of ad-hoc groups whose unpredictable and improvisational shows caused the band’s configuration to shift from one appearance to the next. He soon stabilized the situation by forming a duo and entering the studio with longtime friend Michael Schorr, drummer for Death Cab for Cutie; the pair became the nucleus of Tracker’s first consistent lineup. Whether appearing as that duo or augmented by bassist Dave Harding of Richmond Fontaine, Tracker shared bills with Giant Sand, the Black Heart Procession, and Calexico until Death Cab for Cutie’s growing national profile and critical recognition required Schorr’s presence on tour. The resulting gaps in scheduling steered Askew back into the studio to contribute tracks to various compilations while he simultaneously pursued an array of additional musical endeavors.