Justin Vernon has released a new song called “Agasteen” via his PEOPLE distribution platform. The song is “a long piece of music that seems to relax me,” according to Vernon. You can listen to the track here via PEOPLE.
Justin Vernon
Watch Justin Vernon perform with Dead & Company
Last night, Justin Vernon, from Bon Iver, accompanied Dead & Company at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The performed “Bird Song,” “Friend of the Devil,” and “Black Muddy River” together. Watch Vernon perform with John Mayer below.
Justin Vernon teases at new song “Shittiest Day in American History”
Justin Vernon posted on Twitter to tease a new release from the PEOPLE mixtape, a project he has apparently been working on with Bryce and Aaron Dessner of the National. Vernon retweeted what seems to be a tracklist with new songs from artists such as Big Red Machine, Psymun, Marijuana Deathsquads, Poliça, and himself. Justin Vernon’s two apparent contributions on the tracklist are called “Shittiest Day in American History” and “Thoughts on People 1.” Find the tweet in question below.
Watch P.O.S and Justin Vernon’s new “Faded” video
Minneapolis rapper P.O.S released a new album called Chill, dummy in January. It features collaborations with Kathleen Hanna, Allan Kingdom, Lizzo, Open Mike Eagle, and Busdriver. Today, he has shared the video for the song “Faded,” which has vocals from Justin Vernon and Lady Midnight. In the clip, directed by James Gundersen, P.O.S is in the woods as images are projected onto him. Watch it below.
Listen to James Blake and Bon Iver’s new song “I Need a Forest Fire”
On Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show today, James Blake announced that his new album The Colour in Anything, the follow-up to 2013’s Overgrown, would be released today. He debuted a new collaborative track with Bon Iver named tracks from the album: “I Need a Forest Fire,” and “Radio Silence,” which used to be the title track. Listen to both below. Both tracks were also quickly released on Spotify.
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.
Watch the Silver Lake Chorus sing Justin Vernon-written “From the Snow Tipped Hills”
Justin Vernon, when he is not writing music for Bon Iver or working with Kanye West at Glastonbury or working on his other endeavors, writes songs for Los Angeles indie-choral ensemble, the Silver Lake Chorus. This summer, the group released their self-titled album, which features songs written by indie-rock pioneers such as Tegan And Sara, Ben Gibbard, Wayne Coyne, and Vernon, whose song now has a music video. “From The Snow Tipped Hills,” in a typical fashion for Bon Iver, is airy and floaty, with Vernon’s songwriting getting enhanced by the group’s vocals. The video is shot with drone technology overlooking a California sunset and the nature of the whole performance is enchanting. Watch here.
The Silver Lake Chorus is out now through Six Degrees Records.
The National joined by Sufjan Stevens and Justin Vernon at Eaux Claires festival
The first Eaux Claires Music Festival, which is curated by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, is happening this weekend in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The National were Friday’s headliners but they were not performing alone.
Vernon and Sufjan Stevens appeared during The National’s set. Stevens joined the band during “Afraid of Everyone,” “Squalor Victoria,” and “I Need My Girl,” while Vernon performed on “Slow Show” and “Terrible Love.” Both men appeared on stage during the finale performance of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.”
Watch Stevens’ performance of “Afraid of Everyone” here.
Setlist:
Don’t Swallow the Cap
I Should Live in Salt
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Sea of Love
Hard to Find
Afraid of Everyone (w/ Sufjan Stevens)
Squalor Victoria (w/ Sufjan Stevens)
I Need My Girl (w/ Sufjan Stevens)
This Is the Last Time
Peggy-O (Grateful Dead cover)
Abel
Sorrow (w/ Ragnar Kjartansson)
Slow Show (w/ Justin Vernon)
Apartment Story
Pink Rabbits
England
Graceless
Fake Empire
About Today
Encore:
Mr. November
Terrible Love (w/ Justin Vernon)
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (w/ Justin Vernon, Sufjan Stevens)
Justin Vernon says there’s no plans for a new Bon Iver album or tour
Upon hearing that Bon Iver would headline Justin Vernon’s Eaux Claires Music Festival, there was hope that there would be more in the near future. Even though he expressed disinterest in continuing the group, Vernon confirmed that the festival appearance would be the “beginning of its third cycle” for the band. According to a Grantland interview, Vernon said there is no plans for a comeback album just yet.
“I’ve been taking it really slow,” Vernon said about his writing process. “I don’t mean to get all cerebral about my art, but I’ve been trying to collect improvisations and collect moments. Like, real moments, [and] put them in a pot and serve them up.” He continued, “I’m thinking more, I guess, like a painter or a sculptor, like Andy Goldsworthy or something, in the way I’m putting songs together. To be clear, I’m not doing that to try and be fancy. I just think maybe I ran my course with being able to come up with new moments on the guitar.”
In the same way, the singer-songwriter does not want to get too ahead of himself with Bon Iver’s long term future. Currently, Vernon wants to focus on the immediate future, which does not include a new album or tour:
“As far as putting a record together, I don’t really know what’s happening. Our show is our main focus. We don’t have anything booked after this. We don’t have any plans. We’re not being secretive — we just don’t have any plans. It’s just about, ‘Play the show and put all of our energy into one show’ — for once in my life, let’s just play one fucking show and care just about this one show for a goddamn change. It’s better than, ‘All right, we’re going out on tour and we’re going to hit these markets and this, that, and the other.’ We might play some new stuff. I don’t know, we’re going to figure it out. I go home next week for two weeks of rehearsals and play with my boys.”
Vernon is new approach seems to be related to the band’s “overwhelming” success. During the same interview, he talks about his Bon Iver was used in Bushmills’ whiskey advertisement. “It’s run by a corporation, and you kind of forget that they’re not interested in you or really what you’re doing,” he said. “They’re interested in your popularity and your reach, and it felt really sickening after a while. Not badmouthing Bushmills the company, but I regret it. I regret it because it wasn’t us and they put my face on a fucking billboard, even though it was a cool billboard and I was with my brother and my sound engineer and we’re buds and we got drunk while we had the photo shoot.”
Vernon admits, “I just missed it. I missed the mark on that one and I let it all kind of get to me.”
Eaux Claires will take place July 17th – 18th in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The lineup features The National, Sufjan Stevens, The Tallest Man on Earth, and more.
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