Burr Settles was born in the back of a stalled pickup during a 70s snowstorm in Lexington, Kentucky. Years after his parents (a writer and an ichthyologist/wood truss salesman) named him on a dare, he began cutting his musical teeth at the folk/bluegrass jams in front of a fire station on Woodland Avenue. Since then, he picked up several instruments, moved briefly to Indiana, and is currently situated in Madison, Wisconsin, where he is also pursuing a PhD for some reason.

The Pine Box Orchestra is a folk-rock trio of over-ambitious graduate students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Sarah Wynia Smith dissects frogs and plays trumpet, flute, and keyboards. Burr Settles teaches computers to read, writes most of the songs, sings, and plays a variety of fretted and percussive instruments. Brian Smith does something with biochemistry and plays the cello, bass, and guitar.