Formed in 2004 of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the National Lights was established by Jacob Thomas Berns and Chris Kiehne (the Bland Allisons) as a vehicle for Berns' musings on horror movies, Southern literature, and the ocean and Kiehne's recording and production pursuits. Their debut, The Dead Will Walk, Dear, was recorded between July of 2005 and June of 2006, and was released on BloodShake Records, an imprint created by Berns and Kiehne, now owned and operated by Berns and his brother Adam Louis.

Assisted by Kiehne's arrangements and Sonya Cotton's harmonies, Jacob Thomas set out on his debut to forgive the past while compounding its wrongs. Stirred by the fiction of the American Gothic, The Dead Will Walk, Dear roughly documents the passions, trials, and regrets of a Midwestern murder. With this release, the National Lights intends to remind listeners that the best loves are often the most harrowing.

In 2006, Berns moved to Richmond, Va. where he is currently writing and recording the National Lights' follow-up, entitled Whom the Sea Will Keep, a collection of songs that features whaling ships, captains' daughters, and Joshua Slocum. In his latest recordings, Berns is aided by engineer Patrick Scott Vickers.