Justin Vernon

Justin Vernon
Vernon performing with Bon Iver in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Background information
Birth name	Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon
Born	April 30, 1981 (1981-04-30) Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.
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.

Education

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.

Early career

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. 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 and an EP of unreleased material is available on their MySpace page. 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.

Current career

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.. 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.

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. 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 and Kathleen Edwards' 2012 album Voyageur.

Discography

See also: Bon Iver discography

with Gayngs

• 2010 Relayted

with Bon Iver

• 2008 For Emma, Forever Ago
• 2009 Blood Bank (EP)
• 2011 Bon Iver, Bon Iver

with Volcano Choir

• 2009 Unmap

with Eau Claire Memorial Jazz I Ensemble

• 2009 A Decade With Duke

with The Shouting Matches

• 2008 Mouthoil (Unreleased 5-track EP)

as Justin Vernon

• 2005 Self Record
• 2006 Hazeltons

with DeYarmond Edison

• 2004 DeYarmond Edison
• 2005 Silent Signs
• 2006 The Bickett Residency
• 2006 Unreleased EP

as JD Vernon

• 2001 Feels Like Home

with Mount Vernon

• 1998 We Can Look Up
• 2000 All of Us Free

External links

• Official Bon Iver Website
• Justin Vernon scores two Charlie Chaplin shorts with Chris Rosneau of Volcano Choir
• Official Volcano Choir website