Colin Meloy Eyeglasses

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Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland, Oregon, folk-rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica, percussion and interpretive hand gestures. Meloy was born in Helena, Montana. His sister is Maile Meloy, an author often published in The New Yorker reported in 2009 to be living in Los Angeles.

While in high school, Meloy was in Happy Cactus, and when in college, in Missoula, he was the lead singer and songwriter for Tarkio. Both were indie/folk/alternative country bands. Soon after graduation, Meloy left Tarkio and moved to Portland. There he found, to his disappointment, that he pretty much had to start again, "going to open mics, ... sometimes with no one else in the room save the bartender. When I was in that position, with nobody to appeal to or scare away, I thought, ‘I might as well do whatever I want to do,’ Meloy [said in 2009]. 'And that created a new thing.'"

In Portland, he met future bandmates Jenny Conlee and Nate Query. In 2005, he went on his first solo tour to support the self-released six-song EP, Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey, consisting of six Morrissey covers. Only 1000 copies of the album were made and they were sold only on this tour. Meloy did a second solo tour in January 2006, playing with Laura Veirs and Amy Annelle. On this tour, he sold an EP featuring covers of British folk artist Shirley Collins. 2006 tour performances were recorded for a live release.