{{Short description|American emo band}} {{For|the poet|Rainer Maria Rilke}} {{BLP sources|date=November 2009}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Rainer Maria | image = Rainer Maria farewell show at the Bowery 2006-12-16.jpg | caption = Rainer Maria performing in 2006 | image_size = 200px | landscape = Yes | origin = Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|Indie rock|emo}} | discography = Rainer Maria discography | years_active = 1995–2006, 2014-present | label = {{hlist|Polyvinyl|Grunion}} | website = | current_members = Caithlin De Marrais<br />Kaia Fischer<br />William Kuehn | past_members = }}
'''Rainer Maria''' is an American emo band from Madison, Wisconsin,<ref name="allmusic bio">{{cite web|last=Ankeny|first=Jason|title=Rainer Maria|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rainer-maria-p224437/biography|work=Allmusic|access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref> later residing in Brooklyn, New York. The band was originally active from 1995 to 2006<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beaujon|first=Andrew|title=Rainer Maria: A Better Version of Me|journal=Spin| date=March 2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzBMbiDVcKoC&q=%22Caithlin+De+Marrais%22+gender&pg=PA148|access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref> and reunited in 2014. They have released six full-length albums, a live DVD, and numerous live recordings and EPs.
==History== Caithlin De Marrais, Kaia Fischer and William Kuehn formed the band in late summer of 1995 and named it after the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke.<ref name="ny times review of Catastrophe Keeps Us Together">{{cite news|last=Sanneh|first=Kelefa|title=Rainer Maria: A Not-So-New Band With a New Sound|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/arts/music/13sann.html|access-date=5 November 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 April 2006}}</ref> In its earlier days, the band had a dual male and female vocal line-up; later, De Marrais would become the lead vocalist in a majority of their songs. The gender ambiguity of the name Rainer Maria paralleled this and was one of the reasons it was selected as the band's name.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}
The band's many tours and intimate live shows at venues such as Brooklyn's North Six (which lead singer Caithlin De Marrais referred to as "home" during her final show because it also served as the band's rehearsal space), Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat, the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, and Chapel Hill's Cat's Cradle helped to grow its fan base and fuel album sales.
On November 6, 2006, the band announced, through Pitchfork Media, that the December 16th show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom would be their last. It was accompanied by this statement:
:"We are grateful to our new listeners and especially our longtime fans for their endless support and attention. We feel incredibly fortunate to have come up during a unique time in rock music, in a community that grew with us from the Midwest to Brooklyn and beyond. Making records has always been a revelation, and walking onto stage together we found a vision we could share.
:"For us, this transition can be nothing short of heartbreaking. But for reasons both musical and personal, the three of us have chosen this time to move on."<ref name="pitchfork breakup">{{cite web|title=Articles: The Year in News 2006: Part 2|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6504-the-year-in-news-part-2/5/|work=Pitchfork Media|access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref>
The band played their last show on December 17, 2006, at North Six in Brooklyn. They opened with "Artificial Light" and closed with a lengthy version of "Rise." Referring to the intensity of the show and the enthusiasm of the crowd, Fischer at one point remarked jokingly in-between songs "we should break up every night."Caithlin De Marrais performing in 2006|thumb|right
===Reunion=== The band played a reunion show at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan on December 31, 2014; additional shows were added for February 14, 2015, at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, April 18, 2015, at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, and July 10–11, 2015, in Brooklyn.
They played again in Brooklyn on December 31, 2016,<ref name="ticketfly 20161231">{{cite web|title=TicketFly: Rainer Maria, Snail Mail|url=http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1391107}}</ref> and January 1, 2017.<ref name="ticketfly 20170101">{{cite web|title=TicketFly: Rainer Maria, Olivia Neutron John|url=http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1391108-rainer-maria-olivia-neutron-brooklyn/}}</ref> In June, the group released "Lower Worlds",<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=June 1, 2017 |title=Rainer Maria Returns With 'Lower Worlds,' From Its First Album Since 2006 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/06/01/530928216/rainer-maria-returns-with-lower-worlds-from-its-first-album-since-2006 |access-date=February 22, 2024 |website=npr.org}}</ref> their first song since disbanding, and announced that ''S/T'', their first album in 11 years, would be released on August 18, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Review: Rainer Maria, 'S/T'|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/10/541615482/first-listen-rainer-maria-s-t#|website=NPR.org|access-date=5 May 2018|language=en}}</ref>
On February 29, 2024, the band announced via their Instagram that they would be playing at the Best Friends Forever festival in Las Vegas, marking their first show in 6 years.<ref>{{cite web| title=Instagram: @rainermariamusic| url= https://www.instagram.com/p/C38bVGyJ9Jd/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==|website=Instagram.com|access-date=16 May 2024|language=en}}</ref>
==Band members== *Caithlin De Marrais - bass, vocals *Kaia Fischer - guitar, vocals, synths *William Kuehn - drums, percussion
==Discography== {{Main|Rainer Maria discography}} *''Past Worn Searching'' (1997, Polyvinyl) *''Look Now Look Again'' (1999, Polyvinyl) *''A Better Version of Me'' (2001, Polyvinyl) *''Long Knives Drawn'' (2003, Polyvinyl) *''Catastrophe Keeps Us Together'' (2006, Grunion) *''S/T'' (2017, Polyvinyl)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.rainermaria.com/ Official website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060701230220/http://www.gearwire.com/rainer-maria.html Video interview from 2006 SXSW with some live footage] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060703092433/http://www.upbeetmusic.com/reviews/461 Rainer Maria ''Catastrophe Keeps Us Together'' Review (UpBeetMusic.com)] *[http://www.timmcmahan.com/rainer.htm Lazy-i Interview: February 2003] *[http://www.roxwel.com/player/rainermariaartistcommentarycatastrophe.html "Catastrophe" artist commentary] *[http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/store/index.php?id=127 Polyvinyl Records - Atlantic EP]
{{Rainer Maria}}
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Category:American emo musical groups Category:Indie rock musical groups from Wisconsin Category:Musical groups established in 1995 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Category:Musical groups from Brooklyn Category:Musical groups from Wisconsin Category:1995 establishments in Wisconsin Category:2006 disestablishments in New York City Category:2014 establishments in New York City