Bon Iver Tickets : The Second Album Is Described As An "ambitious Musical Departure" From The First

Bon Iver is a band founded in 2007 by American indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. It includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was recorded while Vernon spent three months in a remote cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin. The name Bon Iver is derived from the French phrase bon hiver meaning "good winter".

Justin Vernon is joined live by Sean Carey (drums, vocals, piano), Michael Noyce (vocals, baritone guitar, guitar) and Matthew McCaughan (bass, drums, vocals). Noyce was Vernon's guitar student during high school.Carey approached Vernon during one of the first Bon Iver shows, telling him he could play and sing all the songs. Thereafter, the two played a number of them together. McCaughan and Vernon met while on tour with indie-rock band The Rosebuds in May 2007.

Because of the extensive use of vocal harmony on the songs of For Emma, Forever Ago, Vernon was concerned that there would not be enough voices to duplicate the sound of the songs on the album in a live setting. To compensate for this problem in early performances, Vernon passed out lyrics for some songs to the audience to sing along to.

In an interview with Pitchfork, Vernon described this dilemma. "I don't want to be the guy with an acoustic guitar singing songs, because that's boring for the most part. The song actually needs 80/500 people singing or whatever the vibe is of that room, it needs that fight". Bon Iver performed at Lollapalooza 2009. Bon Iver has also performed at Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, yafestivalen, Way Out West and Sasquatch!, among others.

Bon Iver, Bon Iver was released on June 21, 2011. On March 23, 2011, Justin Vernon told Rolling Stone that a follow up of For Emma, Forever Ago would be released in June. Bon Iver's second album was rumored to be titled Letters for Marvin but was later confirmed to be Bon Iver.

The album is composed of 10 songs and takes a new musical direction: I brought in a lot of people to change my voice not my singing voice, but my role as the author of this band, this project, says Vernon, who hired well-known players like bass saxophonist Colin Stetson and pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz. I built the record myself, but I allowed those people to come in and change the scene.

The second album is described as an "ambitious musical departure" from the first.Prior to the album's release, Vernon said that each song on the new album represents a place. The song "Perth" was described as a "Civil War-sounding heavy metal song," the song "Minnesota, WI" was described as featuring "finger-picked guitars, double bass drums and distorted bass saxophone," and the closing song "Beth/Rest" will be "horn heavy."

The album was recorded in a remodeled veterinarian clinic in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, which was bought by Vernon and his brother in 2008. It was converted into April Base Studios, built mainly over the defunct swimming pool attached to the clinic. Vernon's reason for recording in the location was that "[it's] been a wonderful freedom, working in a place we built. It's also only three miles from the house I grew up in, and just ten minutes from the bar where my parents met."

On April 20, Bon Iver announced details of the eponymous release through the official Jagjaguwar and 4AD websites.The artwork for the album was also released, painted by the American artist Gregory Euclide. Gregory also released two YouTube videos entitled the "Making of Bon Iver Album Art".

Over one month before the album release date, the album was accidentally made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store on May 23. Apple removed the item from the store, but not before a handful of users were able to purchase and download it. There was no comment from Apple, the artist, or his label.