The Spine Stealers make spooky folk inspired by dark lakes, brain-burned nostalgia and a melancholic hue. The band grew from the duo of Kate Ruland and Emma O’Shea, who learned guitar together during the pandemic and started frequenting open mics in the end of 2022.

Their first year in 2023 they opened for Dead Horses at the Majestic Theater Folk Fest in Madison, WI, won the Blue Ox Music Festival Virtual Band Competition and played the festival that June. They released their first EP, River Teeth Tapes, in July of 2023. 

In 2024, they hit the highways, concretizing their place in the folk scene of the Midwest. The duo were featured on the lineups of Madison, WI Waterfront Festival and Atwood Fest, Rhinelander, WI Project North Music Festival, Grand Rapid, MN Festival Rialto. They played the Lounge at Stoughton Opera house for Haley Heyndrickx, and opened for Arcadian Wild at Stoughton Opera House. They released their debut album, If the Sky Falls, Beyond the Sidewalks, in October of 2024. The band was featured on Gems on VHS playlist in October. 

2025 they supported Basia Bulat at the Majestic Theater in Madison, WI and played at Blue Ox Music Festival followed by their first national tour thru the Pacific Northwest and Western United States. Their second EP Yellow Feather was released in August of 2025.