Family of the Year

Family of the Year
Origin	Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres	Indie, folk, Americana
Years active	2009-present
Website	Official website
Members
Joseph Keefe Sebastian Keefe Christina Schroeter Jamsey Buckey
Past members
Vanessa Long Brent Freaney Meredith Sheldon Farley Glavin

Family of the Year is an American indie band from Los Angeles, California consisting of members Sebastian Keefe, Joseph Keefe, Christina Schroeter, and James Buckey.

History

Though Family of the Year is currently based in Los Angeles, California, brothers Joseph and Sebastian Keefe were born in Wales, and moved to Martha's Vineyard. James Buckey is from Jacksonville, FL, while Christina Schroeter is from Orange County, CA. Prior to forming Family of the Year members Joeseph Keefe, and Sebastian Keefe enjoyed local Boston success in previous bands Unbusted and The Billionaires.

Family of the Year use melodic male/female vocal harmonies and folk tale-style lyrics. Family of the Year self-released their debut EP Where’s the Sun on their Washashore imprint in September 2009. The EP showcases a variety of Family’s music, and includes "Let's Go Down," "Castoff," "Summer Girl," "What a Surprise," and "Psyche or Like Scope." Where’s the Sun is available for digital download at FamilyoftheYear.net for an optional donation. Contributions went directly toward the release of the band’s debut full-length album and continue to fund their collective life on the road.

In October, Family was handpicked out of 700 artists by Ben Folds and Keith Lockhart to open for Ben and The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. Shortly after, the band flew west for California shows with Bell X1 before returning east for the CMJ Music Marathon, marking Family Of The Year’s New York debut. SPIN.com selected the band as one 25 Must-Hear Artists from the 2009 CMJ Festival.

In November, Family hit the road with Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros in support of Family’s debut album, Songbook, also available for optional donation.

In January the band announced the release of an exclusive song every month through their e-mail list in 2010 and followed that with the digital release of their sophomore EP Through the Trees on March 9 under their own imprint, Washashore Records. The band retains their signature folk-inspired style while pushing the musical genre exploration for which they're known on the new EP, which also features friend and fan Willy Mason. Singers Joe Keefe and Meredith Sheldon blend seamless harmonies in the Beach Boys-esque ballad, “Summer Girl,” while “Stupidland” and “Let’s Go Down” are upbeat, catchy folk tunes. Crossing boundaries, Through the Trees features the traditional Family sound, but will also include "The Barn," a synth-heavy rock song, as well as "The Princess and the Pea," which sports a laid-back yet catchy reggae sound.

Like most American families, FOTY come from all over. Brothers Joe and Sebastian Keefe grew up in Wales before staking their claim as locals on the rustic country island Martha’s Vineyard, where they grew up with Meredith Sheldon and Farley Glavin. Christina Schroeter is a misfit of Orange County, CA while across the country southern gentleman James Buckey grew up in Jacksonville, FL.

Musical veterans Joe, Seb, James, and Farley enjoyed local Boston success in their raw rock ensemble Unbusted. Farley and the Keefe brothers switched gears when they created the up-tempo indie-pop band The Billionaires, while James pursued a career in sound engineering. Christina, who spent five years of her childhood trying to weasel out of piano lessons, recently resigned from an entertainment PR firm, where she often rushed clients down red carpets before heading to band practice. Meredith is an accomplished singer and guitarist, and has toured with Ben Taylor as a backup vocalist.

Joe, Seb, and Jamesy met Christina in LA, and Meredith and Farley moved from Martha's Vineyard to complete the ensemble.

Career

In September 2009, Family of the Year self released their debut EP titled Where's the Sun including songs such as "Summer Girl" and "What a Surprise."

In October 2009, the band was selected to open for Ben Folds and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. The band was chosen out of 700 artists by Ben Folds and Keith Lockhart. Also in October of that year, the band showcased at CMJ's Music Marathon at which they gained recognition by SPIN.com as one of their 25 Must-Hear Artists from the 2009 CMJ Festival.

In November 2009, the band released their first full-length album titled Songbook, written, primarily, by Joseph Keefe and Vanessa Jeanne Long. The band toured with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros in support of their debut.

Family of the Year has been recognized for independent fundraising. Donation-based sales for the band's first EP Where's the Sun helped fund the recording of their debut LP Songbook. To fund the bands touring, Family of the Year made $5 tour postcards available on the band's website. The band refers to their postcards as "the old-fashioned twitter".

Discography

Studio albums

• Where's the Sun EP (2009)
• Songbook (2009)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Feel Good Track of Rosemead"	4:03
2.	"Let's Be Honest"	5:14
3.	"Treehouse"	3:21
4.	"Putting Money and Stuff"	3:10
5.	"Stupidland"	2:30
6.	"Summer Girl"	3:16
7.	"Surprise"	2:42
8.	"No Good at Nothing"	4:36
9.	"Charlie Song"	4:33
10.	"Intervention (Staple Jeans)"	3:52
11.	"I Played Drums On This"	4:04
12.	"Castoff"	3:37
13.	"Psyche Or Like Scope"	4:38
14.	"Let's Go Down"	3:51
15.	"Jamesy"	3:08

• Through the Trees EP (2010)
• St. Croix EP (2011)
• (full-length coming in 2012)

Media

In 2010, Advil began airing a national television commercial which featured the band's song "ChugJug."

Sebastian Keefe and Joseph Keefe appeared in a scene of the low budget feature "Hurricane Emma" starring former band mate Vanessa Long. James Buckey also worked on the movie, engineering the ADR recording.

External links

• Familyoftheyear.net [1]