Justin Vernon

Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voice, He is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, the Shouting Matches, and Gayngs. He was previously a member of the now-defunct band DeYarmond Edison. Vernon has received widespread acclaim for his work, predominantly with Bon Iver.

Early life

Vernon attended Memorial High School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he still resides today. He formed his first band, Mount Vernon, in 1997 after meeting its members at a high school Wisconsin jazz camp. They released their first local musical project in 1998. He graduated from Memorial High in 1999 and attended college at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, spending a semester in Ireland. Vernon majored in Religious Studies and minored in Women's Studies. In an interview with Stephen Colbert on ''The Colbert Report'', he said that he was not ready to study music.

Career

Pre-Bon Iver

In 2001, Vernon released his first solo album under the name "J.D Vernon," titled ''Home Is''. He went on to release two other solo albums, namely ''Self Record'' in 2005, which was followed shortly thereafter by ''Hazeltons'' in 2006. All of these albums are available online, but they have not seen an official release. Vernon founded the band DeYarmond Edison in 2001 while still in college. The band, which began performing in 2002, consisted of Vernon, Brad and Phil Cook, Christopher Porterfield and Joe Westerlund. The group saw varying line-up changes during its five years of existence. After playing in the Eau Claire music scene, the four bandmates decided to leave their longtime home and move to Raleigh, North Carolina, to try their musical hand in a new place. The band released two records themselves, the first self-titled in 2004 and the second titled ''Silent Signs'' in 2005, and an EP of unreleased material is available on their Myspace page. After nearly a year in Raleigh, Vernon left for Wisconsin in 2006 after a breakup with the band and a girlfriend. The remaining members of DeYarmond Edison went on to form the folk bands Megafaun and Field Report, and remain good friends with Vernon.

Bon Iver

Vernon came to international prominence with ''For Emma, Forever Ago'', his first album as Bon Iver, which he recorded isolated in a northern Wisconsin cabin during the winter months of 2006 and 2007, while he was going through health and personal difficulties. The album was self-released by Vernon in July 2007 and after it received several positive reviews, including from ''Pitchfork'', the album was rereleased in February 2008 and released internationally in May of that year.

Bon Iver won Best New Artist and Best Alternative Album at the 2012 Grammy Awards, for their 2011 self-titled album. On September 25, 2012, Vernon walked away from Bon Iver temporarily, virtually putting an end to the band for the time being. When asked for reasoning, he replied, " 'mwinding it down. I look at it like a faucet. I have to turn it off and walk away from it because so much of how that music comes together is subconscious or discovering. There's so much attention on the band, it can be distracting at times. I really feel the need to walk away from it while I still care about it. And then if I come back to it – if at all – I'll feel better about it and be renewed or something to do that."

On August 9, 2019, Vernon released ''I, I'', to critical acclaim. The band's fourth studio LP is vocal-heavy and features dozens of collaborators, emulating the message Vernon intended to send when working with Aaron Dessner in producing Big Red Machine.

Collaborations and side projects

Vernon is a part of other musical groups, including Volcano Choir, which consists of Vernon and the members of the band Collections of Colonies of Bees'' was released. His collaborative group Gayngs, consisting of multiple established artists, including members from Megafaun, the Rosebuds, Doomtree and Solid Gold, among others, released ''Relayted'' in 2010. Vernon contributed vocals as Orpheus to seven songs on Anaïs Mitchell's 2010 album ''Hadestown'', based on the Greek legend ''Orpheus and Eurydice''. He is one third of the Shouting Matches, a blues-garage rock trio, along with Laarks and Peter Wolf Crier drummer Brian Moen, and former DeYarmond Edison bandmate Phil Cook. They have recorded but not yet released a 5-track EP, ''Mouthoil'', and released their debut album, ''Grownass Man'', in 2013. At the Shouting Matches' 2013 shows in Milwaukee and Minneapolis, ''Mouthoil'' CDs were available as a limited release.

During the creation of Kanye West's 2010 album ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'', Vernon was invited to collaborate on various songs, providing vocals on "Dark Fantasy", "Monster", " Hell Of A Life" and "Lost in the World", as well as the song "That's My Bitch" from West and Jay-Z's collaborative album ''Watch the Throne'' in 2011. He was also involved in West's 2013 album Yeezus, contributing to " I Am a God", " Hold My Liquor", and "I'm in It". Vernon has on several occasions served as backing vocalist for West at his live performances, notably at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2011 and Glastonbury Festival in 2015, where West introduced Vernon as "one of the baddest white boys on the planet". In 2009, Vernon collaborated with Aaron Dessner on the song "Big Red Machine" for the AIDS benefit album ''Dark Was the Night'' produced by the Red Hot Organization.

He has produced albums for other artists, including Land of Talk's 2008 album '' Some Are Lakes'' and Kathleen Edwards

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