Artist Preview: Bon Iver

"Hey, what are you up to tonight?" If your answer to that is anything but, "going to the free Bon Iver show," then you are silly. A silly goose even.

"But why would I go to this show?" you ask. Well, let me enlighten you. Bon Iver came out of the woodwork last year with his album, For Emma, Forever Ago. The people in blogland sure noticed, as evidenced by his #4 ranking on the Hype Machine's best/most blogged about albums of 2008. His distinctive voice and style opened the eyes (and ears) of many.

"Interesting, tell me more about this Bon Iver fellow," you say. Lead vocalist Justin Vernon wrote and recorded For Emma, Forever Ago in a secluded cabin while spending a couple months recovering from mono. It was not his original plan to create an album, but one eventually evolved out of his time there. The whole situation reminds me of that book Walden by Thoreau, except this one is more interesting because it's not 200 pages on how to build a cabin. The name "Bon Iver" was also come upon during this isolated period. While watching episodes of Northern Exposure, Vernon heard folks saying "bon hiver" in Frenchie talk, which means "good winter." The spelling of "hiver" bothered Vernon (due to his recent troubles with the similarly spelled liver), so he dropped the H and went with "bon iver." I, however, do not believe that story for one second. I think he realized his initials otherwise would be "BH" and decided that that would not do one bit.

Ultimately, you are going to have to hear it for yourself before deciding on anything, even on a free show. Try the title track on for size, I rather enjoy it. Remember: the show starts at 7pm at the Gallivan Center, and the crowd will be big.

[mp3] Bon Iver - For Emma

Buy some Bon Iver: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace