Biography
In March 1997 the melancholy indie-pop outfit Very Secretary assembled in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, with singer/guitarist Dave Johnson, his bassist brother Allen, guitarist Tim Adamson, and ex-Braid drummer Roy Ewing. Once the quartet issued its 1998 debut Best Possible Souvenir, Adamson exited and violinist Rachael Dietkus joined, steering the group toward an even more lush, mournful aesthetic first audible on “Nagarkot,” Very Secretary’s entry in Tree Records’ Postmarked Stamps singles series. The lovely sophomore LP Standing in the Shade arrived in mid-1999, yet the band dissolved the following spring while on tour.