After dropping out of college in New York, Josh Tillman (b. 1981) moved to Seattle and spent a year paying rent by freelance writing and donating plasma. Befriending Eric Fisher (Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas) while on tour in the fall on 2004, Tillman coerced him into recording what would become "I Will Return," a full-length reminiscent of the southern-gothic writings of Flannery O'Conner and the music of Nick Drake and Pete Seeger. The CD-R would be distributed and promoted word-of-mouth in paper sleeves while on the road (with acts such as Damien Jurado, Dolorean and Saxon Shore) for over a year until spring 2005 when KEEP Recordings offered to release a limited, special edition run of the record. Tillman continues to record constantly, most recently finshing a full-length with Fisher entitled "Long May You Run, J. Tillman."

J. Tillman is currently touring with Fleet Foxes as a full member of the band.