The Long Winters emerge from hibernation for tour, album

photo by Autumn de Wilde

The snow has fallen—and melted—twice since we last heard from The Long Winters. In that time, though, silver-tongued lead singer John Roderick's freelance music criticism hustle has put bloggers to shame. He covered Bonnaroo, in hilarious gonzo journalist fashion, for CMJ in '06 and MSNBC in '07, and fired up a semi-weekly column for Seattle Weekly in February of this year.

But this summer, in lieu of the 'Roo, the main songwriter for "the greatest indie-rock band in the Americas" will trade out his critic's quill for a guitar pick as The Long Winters head back behind the boards for the first time since the creation of the band's 2006 LP Putting The Days To Bed.

In an interview with Spin.com, Roderick reveals that the quartet will slip into numerous Seattle studios (including Death Cab drummer Jason McGerr's Two Sticks) during a break in The Long Winters' July mini-tour to record material for the band's fourth album, due out "by early 2009" on Barsuk.

Between hunting down maraschino cherries for a dinner party with John Hodgman and Kaki King and picking up a looping pedal on the advice of his drinking buddy David Bazan, Roderick's carved out over 100 song sketches for the as-yet-untitled record. Unfamiliar with but curious about The Long Winters sound? Hit up Barsuk's treasure trove of free MP3s! (Hint: Start with "Carparts.")

The short summer (tour):

June

21 - Portland, Ore. @ Aladdin Theater (John Roderick solo)

July

3 - Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom

5 - Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox Market

17 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent

19 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Spaceland

31 - New York, N.Y. @ Castle Clinton

Related links:

TheLongWinters.com

The Long Winters on Facebook