Great Lakes formed around the songwriting partnership of Dan Donahue and Ben Crum. The band's history goes back to 1990 when Dan and Ben began collaborating on songs while still in high school. Years later they met Jamey Huggins. When the three moved to Athens in 1996, the band came together and played its first live shows.

2000 saw the release of their self-titled debut. An adventurously-undertaken production, it blends epic soundscapes with catchy pop songs. MOJO called it Very cool, and Uncut praised its gorgeous stereophonic experiments.

Their 2nd LP, 2002's The Distance Between, was selected as one of the top overlooked albums of that year by Magnet Magazine, which noted the bands' ability to spew out a fuzz-laced garage assault and complimented their knack for fusing melancholy with feats of ballroom levitation.

With their 3rd LP, Diamond Times, which came out in the fall of 2006 (UK/Europe in Spring 2007), the band's sound has evolved into what Uncut magazine called powerful, accomplished pop music, and utterly great.