About us.
The Church of Decemberism (est. 2018) is a community online and off, dedicated to celebrating and sharing the love of indie/folk/everything band The Decemberists.
Want a place to get up-to-date information on the band, find a way to connect with other fans, share memes and make like-minded, weird-vocabularied friends? Give us a ring!
Our group name comes from the music video to the song Cavalry Captain, which can be viewed here.
The Matriarchs
The Church of Decemberism was created and is led by our administrators, affectionately referred to as The Matriarchs. Meet them on the rail!
Drea (they/she)
Creator and Chief Shitposter
In 2005 a college friend played “We Both Go Down Together” for Drea on his shitty dorm speakers. Drea fell to their knees in rapture. A few days later they went to see the Decemberists at Webster Hall and Drea claims this as the moment she was saved. They have been an avid fan and pious leader and preacher of the good word of Decemberism ever since. We’re pretty sure C.M. finds them thoroughly annoying.
Missy (all pronouns)
High Priestess
A Decemberists fan for 20 years, Missy was a dedicated member of /orate, the Decemberists message boards, for years before it went the way of all message boards, and traveled on to help create The Church of Decemberism in its stead. Missy has been to over 75 Decemberists shows over the years and once asked the band who the gassiest Decemberist is at a preshow on a dare, forever bringing shame and embarrassment to Mr. Meloy.
Cassie (she/her)
Admin Extraordinaire
Representing the Midwestern sect of the Church, Cassie has been a fan of the Decemberists since she was a teen. She first heard about them from a fellow counselor at summer camp, and when she got home she promptly made “We Both Go Down Together” her MySpace song. She was active on /Orate, where she met Matriarch Missy, and the rest of is history. Her first Decemberists concert was Rock the Garden in Minneapolis in 2009. Her favorite song, if she had to pick one, is “A Beginning Song.”
The Disciples
These are our group moderators; break the rules and they’ll see you with dimes laid on your eyes.
Lily (she/her)
Wayward Mariner
In 2013, when she was a college sophomore, Lily played for three months in quite possibly the world’s only Decemberists cover band. She hopes that enough time has passed now that she may be forgiven for this.
Hannah (she/her)
Starwatcher
After watching that one old video of the band playing “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” on repeat at least three million times, Hannah was immediately hooked on the band. Her obsession remained dormant through their hiatus, but after attending her first concert in 2015, the spark reignited. She Joined the Church in 2018, looking for like-minded individuals to share her affinity for Decemberism. Her favorite album – and the best one, in her educated opinion – is The Hazards of Love.
Charles (he/him)
Nogood Boyo
Casual fan until around 2010 when he listened to The Hazards of Love and stopped in the middle of the song, said “wait, what the fuck,” and immediately restarted it. Once hyperventilated in front of Nate.
Artist-In-Residence
Illustratrix extraordinaire! Want to know the story behind our flagship Joan artwork, featured on this site and for sale on t-shirts here? Look no further!
Shan (any pronouns)
Tattooed Tramp
First introduced to The Rake’s Song through a horror webseries in 2011, Shan listened to The Hazards of Love in pieces before being gently advised to listen to the album front-to-back. Realizing their visceral love for it at the same time as their mortal sin against it, they paid penance by dedicating their first two tattoos to The Hazards of Love and The Crane Wife. The Decemberists were the soundtrack to their somehow successful stint in art school, and although they now put the Creative Writing minor of their degree to more frequent use, the slumbering muse of illustration awoke and answered when the Church called for official apparel. And then, like a poor consumptive wretch, passed out once more. For now.