In winter of 2006, Justin Vernon, also known as Bon Iver, was lost and confused. In the midst of this difficult time, Vernon fled his home in North Carolina and isolated himself in his father's cabin in rural Wisconsin. The cabin was roughly 80 miles from his hometown, and even further from the societal constraints that Vernon was running from. It was in this remote cabin that Vernon hunted for food, drank beer, watched T.V. , yelled at bears, and experimented with his music. He left behind all of his previous songwriting methods. Vernon played with falsetto and layered recordings of his voice.Vernon also shifted focus toward melodies that would evoke a more subconscious response from the listener. This all culminated in a fragile, meaningful album that was unlike anything else people had heard before.
"For Emma, Forever Ago" was incredibly well received. It reached gold and platinum RIAA certifications. In addition, it sent ripples throughout the music field. Other artists began incorporating similar sounds into their music and working with Vernon. Artists from The Lumineers to Ed Sheeran to Kanye West all were inspired by Vernon's music. This clearly shows that Vernon's work moved and expanded his field in a massive way. This also supports the idea that, at the very least, Vernon is a pro-C creative as described by Kaufman and Beghetto.
As a result of 3 months of isolation, Justin Vernon had created what amounted to a field altering masterpiece that sent shock waves through the music industry. Years later, the effects of "For Emma, Forever Ago" are still recognized, and while Vernon may be pro-C for now, who knows what the future will say.
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Love that me bringing "For Emma Forever Ago" vinyl to your freshman dorm room stuck with you. I could not agree more with you highlighting his falsetto and incredible layering as what makes him a unique artist.
ReplyDeleteI've liked Bon Iver but now I can have greater appreciation for his work. I did not realize how influential he was. The isolation makes me think of the movie Yesteray. In it there's a scene where the the main character tells his friend that he wants to go back to teaching and try to be creative on the side. The friend discourages the main character from doing that because she says that too much of his energy will be put towards his students and if he wants to really be creative he should focus all of his energy on his music. That seems to be a really difficult aspect of creativity: making the leap to fully immerse yourself in your craft. Bon Iver definitely found the courage to do that.
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