The Shins Booking Agency Profile

The Shins Biography

The indie rock band the Shins were established in the mid 1990’s in New Mexico, by founding member James Mercer. After leaving his previous band, Mercer teamed up with musicians Jesse Sandoval, Martin Crandall, and Dave Hernandez and began recording music that he’d been writing for a number of years. Despite some changes to the initial lineup, by 2001, the Shins began releasing a number of singles, including the hits “New Slang,” “The Past and Pending,” and “Know Your Onion!,” to a growing fan base.

The albums Oh, Inverted World (2001) and Chutes Too Narrow (2003) were both released, but while they were critically acclaimed and popular with the Shin’s indie fan base, the band had yet to receive greater attention. The single “One by One All Day” appeared in the indie film A Guy Thing in 2003, which helped to further promote the band, but it was the inclusion of “Caring Is Creepy” and “New Slang” in the blockbuster indie hit Garden State that brought the Shins international recognition in 2004.

Within a short time, the Shins were receiving offers from a number of television shows, including Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, and the O.C. The increase in popularity led to the release of Wincing the Night Away in 2007, which finally garnered the Shins a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Since that time, the Shins have enjoyed a strong and steady following in the world of alternative rock. The family of Heather Ledger even selected their song “The Past and Pending” to close his funeral in 2008.

Most recently, the Shins released the album Port of Morrow in 2012, and the single “No Way Down” was featured in the film The Amazing Spider-Man, released in the same year. The Shins continue to perform and record with the current lineup of Mercer, Joe Plummer, Yuuki Matthews, Jessica Dobson, and Richard Swift.