In the mid 1990s, Brooke worked selling pizza in Tucson, Arizona with future bandmates Ben Bridwell and Jenn Champion.

[2] In Seattle, Brooke and Champion formed Carissa's Wierd, who released three studio albums, the first two on Bridwell's Brown Records label.

[4] In July 2010, Brooke announced that he and Jenn Champion had bought the rights to Carissa's Wierd's back catalogue from Sad Robot Records.

[5] Following the breakup of Carissa's Wierd, Ben Bridwell formed the group Band of Horses, which he invited Brooke to join.

Brooke explained what happened, "So they ended up getting a show opening up for Iron and Wine in Seattle and Ben asked if I would just come up and do a couple songs, just 'cause we're friends.

They played as support band for notable acts such as Sera Cahoone and Modest Mouse and were featured by the influential music website Pitchfork Media.

The following spring, Brooke and Jack announced they were opening a new restaurant venture in their newly-adopted hometown of Port Angeles, Washington.