Tim Finn started as a member of New Zealand's art-rock pioneers, Split Enz, and eventually emerged as one of the band's chief songwriters and most recognizable voices. He has also released a number of solo albums, and was for a time a member of brother Neil Finn's band Crowded House. He and Neil have also released two albums to date as Finn Brothers.
Bon Iver is a Grammy Award winning folk band from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States, and one of Justin Vernon's current and most notable music projects to date. The band also consists of Mike Noyce, Sean Carey and Matt MacCaughan.
The name 'Bon Iver' (pronounced "bon ee-VAIR") is a play on the French phrase 'bon hiver' meaning 'good winter'. Vernon independently released Bon Iver's debut album For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007, most of which was recorded during a four-month stay in a remote cabin in Wisconsin.
While in high school and college Vernon founded the indie-rock bands Mount Vernon and DeYarmond Edison in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he still resides.
According to the For Emma Songfacts, after the break-up of De Yarmond Edison, Vernon retreated to his father's log cabin, out in the woods of north-east Wisconsin to hibernate for three snowy months. There he collected his thoughts and formulated them into a suite of songs, For Emma, Forever Ago . The album was originally self-released in late 2007 in a run of 500 copies and sold out instantly.
The album garnered critical acclaim, and was picked up by the indie-rock label Jagjaguwar, which gave the album a proper release on February 19th, 2008. The album was released in the UK and Europe by iconic indie 4AD on May 12, 2008.
When released in the UK, For Emma, Forever Ago received 5/5 and "Album of the Month" reviews in both MOJO and Uncut magazines. It is currently the third highest rated album of 2008 on review-aggregator site Metacritic, with accolades from publications including The Village Voice, The Hartford Courant and The A.V. Club.
The group's second album Bon Iver, Bon Iver was released on June 17, 2011 to universal acclaim. It was named by Pitchfork Media as the best album of 2011 on their annual list. At the 2012 Grammys, the album won Best Alternative Album and the group was awarded Best New Artist, despite having debuted in 2007.
www.boniver.org Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
(Steve Smyth is also a former guitarist for the metal bands Nevermore, Testament, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors, and Forbidden ) "Hailing from the rugged heartland of the New South Wales south coast, Steven Smyth's roots in music can be traced back, past adolescent forays into punk, folk and rock, to a childhood of Sunday gospel sessions. Smyth's musical passions range far and wide. At 14, he started a short-lived punk band, by his late teens it was all about Bob Dylan.
Teddy Thompson was born in London, England in 1976 and is the son of Linda Thompson and Richard Thompson (Richard & Linda Thompson), and the brother of singer Kamila Thompson. Teddy's style is difficult to categorize, because his influences are varied. Growing up around folk music, he listened to a musical gamut that covered Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke and gospel. As he fell in with other musical progeny, most notably close friend Rufus Wainwright, his sound developed into his own combination of country/western, rock, and his father's folk-rock.
Matt Nathanson (born March 28, 1973 in Lexington, Massachusetts) is a singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic and electric guitar (usually a twelve-string), and has played both solo and with a full band. The Faster Songfacts says that his seventh studio album, Modern Love debuted on #17 on the Billboard 200 for the week of July 9, 2011, making it Nathanson's most successful album to date.
Brianna Carpenter remembers her childhood and the times she used to play Barbies whilst listening to Elton John. Ever since then Brianna has been fascinated by song writing and has developed through other musical influences such as Jamie Cullum, Ben Folds Regina Spektor and Bic Runga. Brianna now creates a mix of Folky Alternative Pop. Even though she was born completely deaf in one ear this has not stopped Brianna’s drive to compose. Brianna began song writing at the age of 13 and after writing her first real song "The Web" people started to recognize her talent.
Kevin Devine is an American songwriter and musician from Brooklyn, New York, who is known for alternately introspective and political lyrics and melodic acoustic guitar tunes. He cites his influences as Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Guns N' Roses, Brother Paramo and Nirvana, among others. He grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island, and has spent significant time in Manhattan and Queens as well. Devine graduated Fordham University at Lincoln Center in 2001, majoring in journalism. He also played in an indie/punk/emo band called Miracle of 86 after the (Miracle) New York Mets.
Antony and the Johnsons are a Mercury Prize-winning music act from New York City, New York, United States. During the mid 90s Antony started solo; after originally producing songs with the Blacklips and other late-night cabarets he had a number of songs to work with. In 1995 he assembled a backing group, the self-styled Antony and the Johnsons, and began to focus on the musical side of her performances.
Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958 in Rochester, Victoria, Australia), is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his career-long collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave. A multi-instrumentalist, Harvey plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and drums. Born in rural Victoria, Harvey moved to the suburbs of Melbourne in his childhood.
Holly Miranda is a Detroit born musician, raised between Michigan and Tennessee. Besides being trained in piano, Holly is a self-taught guitar and trumpet player. In 2001, She recorded "High Above The City", a 20-track solo album available only at shows. In the fall of 2003, Holly met and teamed up with Alex Lipsen, producer and keys player. The project evolved into The Jealous Girlfriends, a four piece band based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She also recorded and performed as Raven Mayhem.