Cass McCombs

McCombs was born in Concord, California in 1977. McCombs spent time developing his songwriting abilities in New York City, until the events of 9/11 (coupled with running out of money) sent him back, via Greyhound bus, to San Francisco, where he recorded his debut E.P., entitled Not the Way E.P. It would be released by the small Baltimore-based Monitor Records in 2002. After relocating there, his first full-length album, A, was released early the following year on Monitor in the U.S. and in Europe and the U.K. by 4AD. McCombs and his band spent much of 2003 and 2004 touring, performing everywhere from the All Tomorrow's Parties festival to house shows. McCombs otherwise divided his time amongst the Pacific Northwest, England and Baltimore. After a week of recording in Michigan, his second LP, PREfection, arrived in spring 2005. Later that year, he decamped to Southern California to begin work on his third full-length, Dropping the Writ, which was released on October 9, 2007, by Domino Records and later named one of Amazon.com’s Best Albums of 2007. Following a period in Chicago, he returned to California to record Catacombs before its eventual U.S. release on July 7, 2009.