| Justin Vernon | |
|---|---|
 Vernon performing with Bon Iver in Gothenburg, Sweden. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon |
| Born | April 30, 1981 Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.[1] |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Associated acts | Bon Iver DeYarmond Edison All Tiny Creatures The Shouting Matches Mount Vernon Megafaun Volcano Choir GAYNGS Kanye West The Throne |
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and the frontman for Bon Iver.
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Vernon attended Memorial High School in Eau Claire, WI, graduating in 1999. He then attended college at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. 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.[2]
While in high school and college, Vernon founded the bands Mount Vernon and DeYarmond Edison – both indie-rock bands which originated from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he still resides.[3][4] DeYarmond Edison's core consisted of Vernon, Brad and Phil Cook, and Joe Westerlund. The band saw varying line-up changes during its five years of existence.
After a long period of success in the Eau Claire music scene, the four band mates 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 and the second titled Silent Signs[5] and an EP of unreleased material is available on their MySpace page.[6] After nearly a year in Raleigh, Vernon left for Wisconsin after a breakup with the band and a girlfriend. The remaining members of DeYarmond Edison went on to form a new band called Megafaun and remain good friends with Vernon.[7]
Vernon came to international prominence with For Emma, Forever Ago, his first album as Bon Iver.
Vernon is also a part of other musical groups, including Volcano Choir, which consists of Vernon and the members of the band Collections of Colonies of Bees. An even more recent project is the collaborative group GAYNGS, working with multiple other established artists, including Megafaun, The Rosebuds and P.O.S..[8] Vernon also contributed to seven songs on Anaïs Mitchell's 2010 album Hadestown, based on the Greek legend Orpheus and Eurydice. He is also half of The Shouting Matches, a blues-garage rock duo, along with Laarks and Peter Wolf Crier drummer Brien Moen. They have recorded but not yet released a 5-track EP, Mouthoil.[9]
Vernon agreed to let Kanye West use samples from his song "Woods" on his 2009 EP Blood Bank for West's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and has contributed vocals to several songs in collaboration with West since.[10] In 2009, Vernon also 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 also produced albums for other artists, including Land of Talk's 2008 album Some Are Lakes[11] and Kathleen Edwards' 2012 album Voyageur.[12]
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