In 1994, Kurosky was working at a security firm in San Francisco when he met co-worker Bill Swan, and the two soon discovered they shared similar tastes in music. Before long, Kurosky and Swan began writing songs together and working up demo recordings on a four-track cassette machine. Kurosky and Swan's collaboration grew into Beulah, who made their recorded debut with the 1997 EP Small Cattle Drive in a Snowstorm, which was released by the prestigious indie pop label Elephant6. Handsome Western States, Beulah's first full-length effort, was issued by Elephant6 later the same year, and the group (whose membership shifted rather dramatically from album to album, with Kurosky and Swan as the two constants) earned a loyal fan following for their intelligent and cleverly crafted pop tunes.

Beulah released three more albums and a handful of singles and EPs before calling it quits in 2004, after a tour supporting the album Yoko (the documentary A Good Band Is Easy to Kill was filmed during Beulah's final road trip), and Kurosky lay low for a couple years before returning to the recording studio. However, while Kurosky began work on his first solo effort in 2006, it would be years before the album was completed. In 2005, Kurosky began having shoulder problems that made it painful for him to use his arm and impossible to play guitar; a series of operations were required to get the condition under control, and while in treatment, doctors discovered Kurosky had also contracted a disease effecting the colon and large intestine, which had advanced to his kidney, requiring additional surgery. By 2009, Kurosky (who married and became a father in the midst of his medical troubles) had relocated to Portland, OR and his health was stable enough that his solo album was finally completed. Kurosky next signed a deal with Majordomo Records (a division of Sony-distributed Shout Factory) and his long-awaited solo effort, The Desert of Shallow Effects, was released on March 9, 2010, with Kurosky announcing a month-long concert tour in support of its release. ~ Mark Deming