Northern Valentine is built around husband & wife team Robert (guitar) & Amy Brown (violin & keyboards). They have been recording since 1997 & have six limited release albums to their credit in numerous incarnations with various additional musicians. On the Distance Brings US Closer Robert & Amy are joined by Jeffrey Bumiller (of Doctor Scientist & Lunch with Beardo) on guitar, Marc Carazo on bass guitar, & Ben Fleury - Steiner (of Light of Shipwreck & owner of Gears of Sand Records) on guitar.