Aaron Dessner

James Blake and Justin Vernon to perform together as Fall Creek Boys Choir

James Blake and Justin Vernon teamed up for “Fall Creek Boys Choir” five years ago. The two seem to be set to reunited and they are bringing the collaboration to the live setting.

Fans who purchased the early-bird tickets to Vernon’s second annual Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival have also received a cassette tape containing b-sides, demos, and home recordings from a few of the acts on this year’s lineup. One track is attributed to Fall Creek Boys Choir.

Eaux Claires will take place August 12th – 13th in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The cassette tapes seem to show that Vernon will play three separate sets during the festival weekend; in addition to Fall Creek Boys Choir, he will lead Bon Iver and perform alongside The National’s Aaron Dessner.

Other artists that are expected to appear at the festival: Bruce Hornsby, Jon Hopkins, Shabazz Palaces, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and Arcade Fire members Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld, the latter of will perform with Colin Stetson.

Watch Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, the National’s Dessners cover Sharon Van Etten’s “Love More”

MusicNOW is a music festival that is collaboration-focused held every year in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by the National’s Bryce Dessner. It hold its 11th year March 18-20. The lineup has been announced today.

MusicNOW has shared a highlight from the festival’s history to accompany the announcement. Watch professionally-shot video of a 2010 performance of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Bryce and Aaron Dessner, Colin Stetson, and yMusic covering Sharon Van Etten’s “Love More” below. Fan footage has been around previously, and audio of the cover was on a MusicNOW compilation last year.

This year’s MusicNOW will show the world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s full orchestra version of his Aheym, and the U.S. premiere of his piece Réponse Lutoslawski, both being performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The lineup will include Kronos Quartet, Punch Brothers, Sam Amidon, Julia Wolfe, Luluc, and more. You can check out the full details here.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon covers Spoon’s “Inside Out”

Justin Vernon from Bon Iver has recently released a video of him performing a piano-only, stripped down “Inside Out” by Spoon from their latest album, They Want My Soul. The video was released on Vernon and Aaron Dessner from the National’s YouTube channel for the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival. It features Vernon performing the song in a dark and woodsy setting and can be watched below.

The demo for Spoon’s “Inside Out” was also premiered on Song Exploder and can be listened to here. Spoon was on an episode of the Song Exploder podcast talking about the making of the song.

The band is also performing at the Eaux Claires Music & Art Festival and the complete lineup can be found here.



Justin Vernon and the National announce initial lineup for festival

Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner from the National are working towards starting the inaugural Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival a two-day music and arts festival set to take place in July at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Vernon’s hometown.

Stereogum reports that the line-up is being revealed. Vernon and Dessner have sent letters to those who had ordered presage tickets, each announcing an individual artist as well as confirmed by the Eaux Claire’s Twitter. The lineup as of now includes Low, Melt-Banana, Phox, Boys Noize, Tallest Man on Earth, Sam Amidon, S. Carey and Field Report, Phil Cook, Poliça, Colin Stetson, and Doomtree. The full lineup will be announced here on February 11th.

Here’s the letter that was sent out to those who preordered:

We took a leap of faith. We didn’t know if anyone would leap with us. And then there you were.

Sight unseen, you’ve agreed to join us at the inaugural Eaux Claires Festival along the banks of the Chippewa River this July.

We hope you can feel our gratitude.

Eaux Claires is more than just music. It will be an experience including and celebrating art in a multitude of forms — from the paintbrush to the pen, from the plow to the plate, from local brews to local bootstrappers. Above all, we want to share this place — the Chippewa Valley that has been so good to so many of us.

To make this work, we need early leaders. You are among them. To show our appreciation for your support at the start, here’s a sneak peek at just one of the many artists from the lineup we’re assembling:

We encourage you to share your artists by tagging this information #eauxclaires and broadcasting it in any way you choose. In this way, three quarters of the lineup can be discovered before the full reveal.

We also invite you to join us at http://www.eauxclaires.com on February 11th when we officially announce our lineup along with other surprises.

Right now the Chippewa River slips dark and silent beneath the sheeted ice. come summer, the water will flow warm and slow. Along the banks the grass will grow, and the night will fill with music and light.

We’ll join you there.

Michael Perry, Eaux Claires Narrator

Justin Vernon, Eaux Claires Curator

The trailer for the festival can be found here.