Wesley Keith Schultz (born December 30, 1982) is the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
ist and lead vocalist for the American
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...
Ramsey, New Jersey
Ramsey is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 14,473,"The Lumineers: Chasing Big Dreams Out West"
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, May 26, 2012. Accessed November 14, 2012 the son of clinical psychologist Dr Michael J. Schultz (died 2007) and primary domestic Judy (née Kinyon), and attended
Ramsey High School
Ramsey High School, established in 1909, is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Ramsey, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary s ...
and the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...
. At the time The Lumineers released their first album, their press release highlighted the fact that Schultz, then age 9, had been quoted in a 1992 story in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. In that story (a profile of Dennis Kobray, who since 1986 has performed the award-winning musical/ acting show "Meet the Musicians", as part of which he tours elementary schools imitating classical composers as a way to introduce children to
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
), 9-year-old Schultz is quoted as saying: "I spend a lot of time on my drawings and it turns out good 'cause I've been practicing a lot."
Growing up in Ramsey, Schultz's best friend was Josh Fraites.McDermott, Maeve "Meet roots rockers The Lumineers" ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', June 24, 2012. Fraites died of a
drug overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.
in 2002, at the age of 19. In the wake of Josh's death, Schultz connected with Josh's younger brother
Jeremiah Fraites
Jeremiah Caleb Fraites (born January 17, 1986) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the co-founder of The Lumineers and is a songwriter for the band. He was born and raised in Ramsey, New Jersey.
Early ...
, a
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...
, and the two "found solace in music, writing songs and playing gigs around
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
." The two toured under various names including Wesley Jeremiah and Six Cheeks, and released a self-titled EP, including future The Lumineers songs, "Flowers In Your Hair" and "Darlene".
Frustrated by their band's limited success in New York, and struggling with the high cost of living, Schultz and Fraites decided to relocate to
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, where they could dedicate more time to working on their music and touring. Upon arriving in Denver, they placed a
Craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark began the ...
cellist
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...
.
Neyla Pekarek
Neyla Pekarek (; born September 4, 1986) is an American cellist, vocalist, and pianist. She was a member of the folk rock band The Lumineers from 2010 to 2018.
Early life
Pekarek was born and raised in Denver, Colorado.
She grew up in a househol ...
responded to their ad and ultimately became the third member of The Lumineers. The trio spent the next year playing gigs around Denver and touring nationally at their own expense.
In 2012, The Lumineers released their first album, '' The Lumineers''. Three songs from that album (all co-written by Schultz and Fraites) have charted: "
Ho Hey
"Ho Hey" is a song by American folk rock band the Lumineers. It was released on June 4, 2012, as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album (2012). The music video was released on March 11, 2012. "Ho Hey" reached number one for 18 ...
", "
Stubborn Love
"Stubborn Love" is a song by American folk rock band the Lumineers. It was released in 2012 as the second single from their debut self-titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believe ...
", and "Submarines".
In 2013, the band released a deluxe edition of their self-titled album. It included 5 bonus tracks, over 25 minutes of video footage, and a 28-page booklet.
In 2016, Schultz sang
Honey Pie
"Honey Pie" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1968 eponymous double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written entirely by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnersh ...
in
Beat Bugs
''Beat Bugs'' is an animated children's television series, created by Josh Wakely, and produced for Netflix by Grace: A Storytelling Company and Thunderbird Entertainment since 2016. The series is centred around five young anthropomorphised ins ...
episode 12b.
In 2016, The Lumineers released the album ''Cleopatra''. The songs were written in the four years after the first album, ''The Lumineers'', was released.
In 2019, The Lumineers released the album "III". This is their third album. The album title references that the album is presented in three chapters, each focusing on a different main character of the fictional Sparks family
On October 25, 2020, Schultz announced that a 10-song solo album containing covers entitled "Vignettes" would be released that Friday, October 30. He defined the album as a love letter to the songs he played in bars and coffee shops at the beginning of his music career.
Schultz had previously released a version of
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
's song " Bell Bottom Blues" on September 3, which was included on the album.