Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993. Mogis soon turned over his role in the company to Robb Nansel. The label is named after Saddle Creek Road, a major street that cuts through Midtown Omaha, and the beginnings of a scene whose members included Justin's brother Conor Oberst, Tim Kasher, and others. Collectively, they were known unofficially as the "Creekers". Saddle Creek first appeared in print on a show flyer, offering to "Spend an evening with Saddle Creek" Saddle Creek became an incorporated entity as a result of a class project on entrepreneurship. Distribution is handled by Redeye Distribution.
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.
Commander Venus was an American emo band from Omaha, Nebraska. Fronted by Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher, the band also included Todd Fink and Matt Bowen of The Faint, Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur and Robb Nansel, executive producer of the indie label Saddle Creek. Kasher subsequently went on to front the band Cursive, and Oberst later became famous as the core member of the indie folk collective Bright Eyes, and later the punk band Desaparecidos.
Cursive is an American indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. Stylistically described as emo and post-hardcore, Cursive came to prominence with 2000's Domestica and found commercial and critical success with 2003's The Ugly Organ. The band has released eight studio albums, a compilations album, and a mix of singles and EPs since 1997. They have released recordings on several labels, including 15 Passenger Records, Saddle Creek Records, and Big Scary Monsters (UK).
Timothy J. Kasher is an American musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and the Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha-based record label Saddle Creek Records.
Album of the Year is the third album by The Good Life. The limited edition release includes a second disc with an acoustic version of the album. The enhanced CD comes with footage of videos recorded February 3, 2004, at O'Leavers in Omaha, Nebraska.
Slowdown Virginia was an indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. Formed in 1993, the band recorded and released one album, Dead Space, on Lumberjack Records in 1994, the predecessor to today's Saddle Creek Records. After playing an influential role in inspiring the later formation of other Omaha bands like Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Desaparecidos with their energetic live shows and recordings, Slowdown Virginia broke up in the spring of 1995. A month after breaking up, Kasher, Maginn, and Pedersen regrouped with a new drummer to form Cursive. Omaha's mixed entertainment venue Slowdown is named in honor of the band.
Black Out is the second album by Omaha indie rock band The Good Life. It was released on March 4, 2002 by Saddle Creek Records. It contains 14 songs, running approximately 50:08.
Domestica, also styled as Cursive's Domestica, is the third studio album by the American indie rock band Cursive, released on June 20, 2000. This album was the 31st release by Saddle Creek Records, released on CD as well as both red and black vinyl.
The Ugly Organ is the fourth studio album by American rock band Cursive, released on March 4, 2003, through Saddle Creek Records. It was released both on black and translucent green 180 gram vinyl.
Burst and Bloom is an EP by American indie rock band Cursive, released in 2001 on Saddle Creek Records. It is the band's first release with cellist Gretta Cohn. Some lyrics in the song "Sink To The Beat" reference the song-writing process and their record label. This theme would carry over to Cursive's next full length, The Ugly Organ, which again contained songs referencing the song writing process.
The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song is the second full-length album by the American indie rock band Cursive, released in 1998.
The Difference Between Houses and Homes (2005) is a compilation by American indie band Cursive of some of their early material. It is subtitled Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001. This compilation features songs from The Icebreaker 7", The Disruption 7", Sucker and Dry 7", and the split between Cursive and Small Brown Bike.
Stefanie Drootin is one half of the band Umm and one half of the band Big Harp (band) on Saddle Creek Records. She is also the bass guitarist for the band The Good Life on Saddle Creek Records. Stefanie plays or has played in Bright Eyes, She and Him, M.Ward, McCarthy Trenching, Azure Ray, Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor.
Help Wanted Nights is the fourth album by the Omaha-based band The Good Life, released on September 11, 2007 on Saddle Creek Records. Currently, frontman Tim Kasher has moved to Los Angeles and has written a screenplay entitled Help Wanted Nights. He has stated that the screenplay acts as a 'counterpart' to the album:
I tried to have the songs be less storytelling, and less narrative...since I was writing this fictionalized counterpart to this thing, I kind of liked the idea of writing songs to [exist] more as ideas that complement something else that was written. I tried to focus less on narrative and more on those big ideas.
Art in Manila was an American indie rock "supergroup" consisting primarily of musicians based in the Midwestern states of Nebraska and Kansas. After originally forming with the name Art Bell, the band later changed its name. Their album Set the Woods On Fire (2007) was recorded by Joel Petersen and mixed by Andy LeMaster. At the time the album was recorded, the band consisted of Steve Bartolomei, Corey Broman, Orenda Fink, Ryan Fox, Dan McCarthy, and Adrianne Verhoeven ; former members include Stefanie Drootin and Chris Senseney.
Dylan Ryan (drummer) is an American drummer and composer. He led the progressive-jazz sextet, Herculaneum, and the Los Angeles-based guitar, bass, and drums trio, Dylan Ryan / Sand. He is a founding member, along with Dave McDonnell, of Chicago's experimental rock trio, Michael Columbia. He has also performed with Icy Demons, Tim Kasher, Cursive, and Rainbow Arabia.
Everybody's Coming Down is the fifth studio album by indie-rock band The Good Life, released on August 14, 2015 on Saddle Creek Records.
Adult Film is the second solo studio album by Tim Kasher of the bands Cursive and The Good Life, released on October 8, 2013 on Saddle Creek Records.
Bigamy: More Songs from the Monogamy Session is a solo extended play album by Tim Kasher of the bands Cursive and The Good Life. The album was released on August 16, 2011 on Saddle Creek Records for download and physical copies were sold on tour only. Tracks from the album were written during the same period as Kasher's debut solo album, The Game of Monogamy, released on Saddle Creek in 2010. Songs from Bigamy were recorded after the ones from Monogamy, with the exception of "A Bluer Sea", which was recorded as a song for Monogamy. The EP also has a cover of "Trees Keep Growing" by Saddle Creek label mate Azure Ray from their second album, Burn and Shiver.
