Justin Vernon of Bon Iver – Trying to stay low-key, but . . .

Bon Iver for this Monday Lunch – recorded live at the Northside Festival in Aarhus, Denmark on June 8, 2019 and preserved for posterity by Denmark Radio DR P3.

Bon Iver was founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guitar), Sean Carey (drums, keyboards, vocals), Michael Lewis (vocals, baritone guitar, guitar, violin, saxophone), Matthew McCaughan (drums, bass, vocals), Andrew Fitzpatrick (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Jenn Wasner (guitar, keyboards, vocals).

After the breakup of his band DeYarmond Edison, the ending of a relationship, and a bout of mononucleosis hepatitis, Vernon left Raleigh, North Carolina, and moved back to Wisconsin. He spent the oncoming winter months at his father’s cabin in Dunn County, Wisconsin. According to Vernon, it was during this time that the “Bon Iver” moniker first entered his mind; while bedridden with mononucleosis, he began watching the 1990s TV series Northern Exposure on DVD. One episode depicts a group of citizens in Alaska, where the show is set, emerging from their homes into the first snowfall of the winter and wishing one another bon hiver (lit. “good winter”). This was initially transcribed by Vernon as “boniverre”; however, when he learned of its proper French spelling, he elected not to use it, deciding hiver reminded him too much of “liver“, the site of his illness at the time.

In live performances, Justin Vernon is joined by Sean Carey (drums, vocals, piano), Michael Noyce (vocals, baritone guitar, guitar, violin) and Matthew McCaughan (bass, drums, vocals). Noyce was Vernon’s guitar student during high school.  Vernon uses various keyboard instruments during live performances including synthesizers such as a Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 6 and a Teenage Engineering OP-1, while during studio recordings his instruments have included a Steinway & Sons Model D Concert Grand Piano.

There you have it – dive in and enjoy – it’s Monday after all.

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