The Femurs

Despite the pluralized name, the Femurs began in New York in 1998 with just one member — Rob Schaeffer aka Rob Femur — who eventually left the East Coast behind to head west. After a stopover in Santa Cruz and a detour of a few weeks in Olympia, WA, Rob hitched his way to Seattle, where he ultimately settled down in 2000 and plugged in his four-track to record. Playing short and simple pop songs mostly built around three chords, the Femurs' self-titled album appeared in 2004 on Homespun Records; it was a mix of electric and acoustic love songs that resulted from an equal admiration of the Ramones and Jonathan Richman. Eventually, Schaeffer's longtime friend and musical collaborator Colin left the fast pace of New York and made his way to the Pacific Northwest to team up with Rob, officially turning the Femurs into a duo. The friends continued cranking out their indie pop/rock ditties, sharing duties on the drums, vocals, and guitar both in the studio and on-stage. In 2005, the six-song EP Jack Cafferty vs. Chuck Scarborough was released. The album was followed up in the fall of 2007 with Modern Mexico, a full-length record made up of two previously released EPs. Colin Femur left the band in the summer of 2008, after which Rob again got to writing and recording by himself. These songs ultimately resulted in the Ride Together EP, released soon after in November 2008. Rob, who had previously also played in the local band Loveless and the Goodnight Trail, went on to join Seattle power pop-punk band the Cute Lepers as drummer by the year's end.