Pine Valley Cosmonauts Biography

Pine Valley Cosmonauts Biography

 The group was initiated by Jon Langford (also of the Waco Brothers and The Mekons) as a covers group, with a constantly shifting repertory and cast of backing members. The name was first used for Langford's 1995 album of Johnny Cash cover songs. In 1998, Langford enlisted the help of a number of prominent alt-country musicians (including Neko Case, Alejandro Escovedo, and Robbie Fulks) for a full-length tribute album to Bob Wills. Their second LP, The Executioner's Last Songs, was released in 2002 and is a collection of songs about death. Following this record's success, the group recorded two more albums of songs about death as benefits for the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty. These albums featured such guests as Steve Earle and Mark Eitzel. The group rarely performs live, though it occasionally does special performances in the Chicago area. In 2007 the group appeared as backing band on Chumbawamba member Danbert Nobacon's solo album The Library Book of the World, as well as playing live with Nobacon.