After spending some time working on radar at the MIT Radiation Laboratory, Longmire attended the University of Rochester in New York, where he received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1948.
Aside from her work with the Decemberists, Conlee has made guest appearances on several records by other artists, including Hush Records artist Reclinerland, Lewi Longmire, Jerry Joseph, Buoy LaRue and many others.
The album's songs were used for several video games and films; "Short Change Hero" was featured in the 2010 movie Faster, a trailer for the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City, later opened the 2012 video game Borderlands 2, and the trailer for Season 2 of Longmire.