Long Winters

John Roderick is the songwriter, singer, and guitarist for Seattle band The Long Winters, and has made guest appearances on albums and in music videos by Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Harvey Danger, and Nada Surf among others.  He's written commentary and music criticism for MSNBC, CMJ, and The Stranger, as well as a regular column for the Seattle Weekly.  He's also taught writing classes at 826 Seattle, UW Bothell, and EMP.

John was born in Seattle and spent his childhood split between Seattle and Anchorage.  As a teenager he hopped freights around the west coast, one time traveling as far as Fargo ND.  He was witness to the fall of the Berlin Wall, has soloed a Cessna 172, survived a high- speed motorcycle crash, and went to the top of the World Trade Center on 9/01/01.  He studied philosophy at Gonzaga and the Comparative History of Ideas at the University of Washington, and in 1999 walked alone from Amsterdam to Istanbul.  He's met Neil Young and Count Basie but has never been shot or stabbed.  He has been slapped, however.  He was once nationally ranked in downhill ski racing, although his national ranking was something like 497th.