Formed in 2001[1] by songwriter Adam Kline,[2] the group operates with a rotating lineup[3] and has featured significant contributions from such notables as Joanna Newsom (who sang and played piano on the first Golden Shoulders album, Let My Burden Be, before going on to international acclaim[4]), Todd Roper and Greg Brown (Cake, Deathray), Rich Good (the Psychedelic Furs, the Pleased), Dan Elkan (Broken Bells, Hella), Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Frusciante, PJ Harvey, Beck), Rusty Miller (Jackpot), Jonathan Hischke (Dot Hacker), Rob Kieswetter (Bobby Birdman), Hunter Burgan (AFI), songwriter Brett Shady, drummer Neal Morgan, and more.

Live arrangements differ from the recorded versions based on the whims of the performers.

66 on the CMJ chart, which measures college radio plays in the United States.

[8] The April 2005 issue of MOJO magazine gave the Golden Shoulders' second album, Friendship is Deep, a review of four out of five stars.

[2] Golden Shoulders also had several songs featured on the popular episodic video blog, lonelygirl15.