Prior to the band's conception, brothers Garnet and Snow Keim had busked around the country writing music in the late 1990s, ultimately leading them to Seattle, Washington.

The band formed in 2001 when the Keim brothers met their future drummer, Bob Husak, in a local Seattle coffeehouse (Tully's).

[1] In 2005, The Blakes gained major exposure from their fourth release, Little Whispers, when Seattle radio station KEXP began playing and promoting their music.

In 2007, on their new label, the band released the Streets EP, and later remixed (Martin Feveyear) remastered and reissued The Blakes LP.

The summer of 2011, the band again went into the studio writing, recording and producing for what will be The Blakes' "Art of Losses" LP, due out July 24, 2012.