justin vernon
Hear The National’s Mournful New Song With Bon Iver
As tipped here last week, The National has released the new song “Weird Goodbyes” featuring Bon Iver, which the band has already been playing live minus Justin Vernon during its summer world tour. “It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts,” says frontman Matt Berninger of “Weird Goodbyes,” which will appear on the band’s in-progress next studio album. [embedded content][embedded content] The National’s Aaron Dessner says “Weird Goodbyes” is one of the first new song the band worked on in the wake of the 2019 album I Am Easy To Find. “I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head — it felt like something only [drummer] Bryan [Devendorf] could naturally play,” he adds. “We built the song a...
The National Confirms New Song ‘Weird Goodbyes’ With Bon Iver
Fans of The National knew a new song announcement was coming after posters began appearing around Brooklyn last weekend teasing “Weird Goodbyes” featuring Bon Iver. The news is now official, as The National has confirmed via social media that the track will arrive Aug. 22 at 12pm ET. It can be pre-saved here. “Weird Goodbyes” has been played live nine times on The National’s summer world tour, although it has been written on set lists with different names (“Bathwater” and “Mount Auburn”). The track is piano-led and features an elaborate beat played by drummer Bryan Devendorf, as frontman Matt Berninger sings about grief, old memories and letting go. “This is special,” The National’s Aaron Dessner wrote on Twitter. “We put a lot of heart into making it.” This will be the first appearance by...
Big Red Machine Announce New Album With Appearances by Taylor Swift, Fleet Foxes, Sharon Van Etten
Big Red Machine has announced their second album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last, releasing Aug. 27 via 37d03d. The folk-indie band is somewhat of a supergroup formed by Aaron Dessner of The National and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The new album was produced by Dessner himself at his Long Pond studio in New York. The announcement of the 15-track LP also comes with its first single and lyric video, the album-opening “Latter Days,” featuring Anaïs Mitchell. Check out its lyric video below. [embedded content] About the single, Dessner says, “It was clear to Anaïs that the early sketch Justin and I made of ‘Latter Days’ was about childhood, or loss of innocence and nostalgia for a time before you’ve grown into adulthood — before you’ve hurt people or lost people and made mistakes. She def...
John Prine’s Newport Folk Festival Set With Margo Price, Roger Waters, Jim James, Justin Vernon and More Coming to Vinyl
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since legendary singer-songwriter John Prine died from COVID complications. But the singer-songwriter continues to get the accolades he deserves, not only by winning two Grammys last week, but also having one of his most memorable shows set to be released. Prine’s set at the 2017 Newport Folk Festival was easily one of the highlights of the weekend. Justin Vernon, Jim James, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lucius, and ex-Pink Floyd member Roger Waters all joined the singer-songwriter on stage that weekend. Now, you can get it on vinyl. <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “obj”: {“id”:”25115″,”width”:”480″...
Taylor Swift’s Evermore Is an Undeniable Folk-Pop Masterpiece
Somehow. Somehow, as the most psychologically daunting year of our lives refuses to loosen its grip, Taylor Swift continues to create with abandon, relentlessly surprising a fan base that hangs on her every tweet and emoji. Somehow, the pop monolith has done it almost entirely in isolation, sharing heaps of digital files with her latest songwriting soulmate, The National’s Aaron Dessner (as well as long-favored collaborator Jack Antonoff), and remotely patching together some three-dozen fully realized tracks from a makeshift home studio. Somehow, she’s polished off two career-redefining projects in five months. And somehow, despite the mastery and universal acclaim of July’s Folklore, its new sister album, Friday’s Evermore, is even stronger. Released two days befor...
Justin Vernon Plays New Big Red Machine Song in Latest ‘Visit With Vernon’
Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon launched his “Visit With Vernon” voting initiative with his Eaux Claires last month to “talk thoughtfully about why voting matters” and in the second installment, where he sat with two new Milwaukee voters, he performed a new Big Red Machine song titled “Latterdays.” The singer-songwriter says the tune is “about what it’s going to feel like in the future when we look back and wonder if we did enough.” Big Red Machine is his side project with the National’s Aaron Dessner and he wrote this song with Dessner and Anais Mitchell. After a brief conversation, Vernon performed the tune on a Milwaukee rooftop for contest winners Vic and Mary Jane, who have different political opinions. Watch it below. [embedded content] You Deserve to Make Money Even When you a...
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon Wrote a Song for Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon paid tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by penning a song in her memory. Vernon played the tune, aptly titled “Your Honor,” for a socially distanced audience of two as part of the first For Wisconsin “Visit With Vernon.” The attendees had won a contest where members of the public nominated someone close to them who was on the fence about voting. The winner and guest — in this case, Benny and Eric of Eaux Claires County, Wis. — had an audience with Vernon, who is also the co-founder of Eaux Claires Festival. Vernon and the winners discussed why voting matters this year during their visit. Watch the visit and song below. [embedded content] You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating ...
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver Performs ’22 (OVER S∞∞N)’ on Late Show
In the last week, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver has raised the stakes in helping get out the vote. His Eaux Claires Festival launched a voting initiative earlier this week where if Wisconsin natives sign up to vote, they’ll be entered into a contest where they can have a private meeting with him. Continuing his get out the vote drive, Vernon appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert as part of the program’s #PlayAtHome series. It’s tough to see his face, as you can see in the clip below, and with good reason. Across Vernon’s face is the message ‘Wisconsin/Register to Vote Online or By Mail/By/Wednesday/October 14/2020. Oh and he performed “22 (OVER S∞∞N).” The performance was (as you can guess) to help raise awareness for the voting initiative. The song, however, ...
Bon Iver and Friends Donate $30,000 to Minnesota Organizations, Floyd Fund
Much of the music world is coming together this week to support those protesting in Minneapolis and throughout the country after the murder of George Floyd. On Friday afternoon (May 29), Bon Iver and frontman Justin Vernon announced on Instagram that the group — along with the Rhymesayers label (which is based in Minneapolis) and Secretly Group — has donated $30,000 to organizations supporting those in Minneapolis. In the post, the group urged fans to contribute what they can to those same organizations: the Minnesota Freedom Fund, George Floyd Memorial Fund, Reclaim the Block and Black Visions Collective. “The hurt and rage in Minneapolis-Saint Paul right now are harrowing,” the post read. “We are deeply concerned for the safety of the people in the streets protesting for justice. Their b...
