Pete Yorn

Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn opening for the Dixie Chicks in Austin, Texas in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Peter Joseph Yorn
Born	July 27, 1974 (1974-07-27) (age 35), Montville, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Rock Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar Harmonica drums
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	Minibar
Website	peteyorn.com

Peter Joseph Yorn (born July 27, 1974, Montville, New Jersey, United States) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition when his music—including the song "Strange Condition"—appeared in the 2000 film Me, Myself & Irene. Yorn also wrote the film's score.

Early history

Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a teacher. Yorn taught himself to play drums at age nine and soon learned to play the guitar. He attended Montville Township High School in Montville, New Jersey.^[1] In 1990, while drumming for his band in a high-school talent contest, someone suggested that he sing The Replacements' song "Talent Show". It went over well enough that a competing band requested that he sing Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" with them.

Breakthrough

Yorn was encouraged enough to maintain a focus on music while attending Syracuse University (class of 1996) where he was a major in the department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies and a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. After graduating, Yorn moved to Los Angeles, where he began to attract a following with his performances at Cafe Largo. Film producer Bradley Thomas (Kingpin & There's Something About Mary) liked Yorn's act enough to request Yorn send him some rough demos for possible inclusion in the Farrelly Brothers' film Me, Myself and Irene. Soon after, Yorn landed a job scoring all of the music to the film and also contributed the songs "Strange Condition" and "Just Another" to the film and its soundtrack. "Just Another" was also featured on the television shows Veronica Mars, Felicity, Dawson's Creek, and Smallville. In addition to appearing on the Me, Myself, and Irene soundtrack, Pete Yorn's recordings have appeared on other movie soundtracks, including Orange County (2001),Bandits (2001), Spider-Man (2002), John Q (2002), Shrek 2 (2004) and My Sister's Keeper (2009).

After experiencing this taste of success, Yorn released his 2001 LP debut, entitled musicforthemorningafter, which went gold on the strength of the album's lead single, "Life on a Chain." Rolling Stone Magazine named Yorn one of "Ten [artists] to Watch in 2001" and gave the album a favorable four-star rating.

Yorn went on to release the 2003 album Day I Forgot which has sold over 300,000 copies to date and scored a third radio hit with the song "Come Back Home."

In 2006, Yorn released his third album, Nightcrawler.

Guitarist Peter Buck of the band R.E.M. has made appearances on several Pete Yorn recordings, including instrumentation on the single version of "Strange Condition" and a number of songs from the Day I Forgot LP. Yorn has worked with producers R. Walt Vincent, Brad Wood, and Ken Andrews of Failure and Year of the Rabbit, in addition to several other producers including Scott Litt, Butch Walker and Sonic Youth producer Don Fleming.

Yorn has shared bills with the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Crowded House, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Coldplay, The Dixie Chicks, Semisonic, and Say Anything, among others.

Yorn's song, "Lose You" can be heard just before the ending credits of the episode "Simple Explanation" on the Fox show House, MD.

The Trilogy

Pete Yorn's third studio release, Nightcrawler, completes a conceptual trilogy of sorts,^[2] which spans his first three albums (EPs not included); beginning in the morning with the musicforthemorningafter LP, continuing through the day with the Day I Forgot LP, and arriving at nightfall with the Nightcrawler LP.

In September 2006, while interviewing with silentuproar.com, Yorn elaborated on his true intentions behind the trilogy, remarking that it was at least partially a conscious trilogy but wasn't meant to be taken too seriously: "I didn't mean like a Star Wars Trilogy where it's one story at all." Yorn expressed that the "trilogy" was more of a diary of sorts; a person gaining new life experiences and simply commenting on them in linear order. "So it's a sort of continuing analysis of those topics, and the Night Nightcrawler LP would represent a later phase," Yorn said.^[3]

Subsequent releases

In 2008, Pete Yorn recorded and released a new song, entitled "American Blues Vol. 1." A music video was shot for the single, and the song itself was released for free on Yorn's official website for a short period of time. Concerning the song, Yorn has said "I wrote American Blues Vol. 1. on the 4th of July after reading the morning paper. It's unlike any song I've ever written. I was moved by how much negativity I was reading about and how even groups were boycotting Independence Day because they were so disgusted with the state of our Nation. I was hoping things would improve...they obviously haven't yet...but I know they will in time."^[4]

According to several sources, Yorn has been writing and recording a respectable amount of new material to be released in 2009; namely two new records. The producers are Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) and Frank Black (from Pixies). Two new songs have been released for download on various fan pages that are expected to be included on the new albums; "Sans Fear" and "Shotgun," respectively.

Yorn appears on Canadian artist Matthew Good's 2009 album Vancouver performing backing vocals.

"Can't Hear Anyone," a song that Yorn wrote during the Nightcrawler sessions, was recently used for a Mercedes-Benz commercial and was released as a digital single on March 31, 2009.

Columbia Records released his Mike Mogis-produced album, entitled Back & Fourth on June 23rd, 2009.^[5]

Yorn toured with Coldplay as an opening act through summer 2009 and collaborated with actress/musician Scarlett Johansson to record a project entitled "The Break Up Album." The album was released on September 15, 2009, and its first single—"Relator"—was released digitally on May 26, 2009.

Discography

Studio albums

• musicforthemorningafter (2001) #111 US
• Day I Forgot (2003) #18 US
• Nightcrawler (2006) #50 US
• Back and Fourth (2009) # 32 US^[6][7]
• Break Up (with Scarlett Johansson) (2009) #41 US, #18 France, #58 Swiss^[8]

Live albums

• Live at the Roxy (2001) #131 US
• Live from New Jersey (2004)

EPs

• Sunset EP (2000)
• Westerns EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Electric Fetus, 5/6/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Rhino Records, 6/20/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Salzers Records, 6/22/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Fingerprints, 6/23/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Dimple Records, 6/24/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Waterloo Records, 6/28/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Keif's, 6/30/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Vintage Vinyl, 7/1/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from The Exclusive, 7/2/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Singing Dog Records, 7/6/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Ear X-tacy, 7/7/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from New World Record, 7/8/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Record Archive, 7/10/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Bull Moose, 7/11/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Newbury Comics, 7/12/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Record & Tape Traders, 7/13/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Schoolkids Records, 7/15/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Grimey's, 7/17/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Criminal Records, 7/18/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Lasers Edge, 7/19/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Homer's, 7/21/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Twist & Shout, 7/24/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Barts CD Cellar, 7/25/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Graywhale, 7/26/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Easy Street, 7/28/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Music Millennium, 7/29/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Rasputin Music, 7/31/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Lou's, 8/1/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Zia Record Exchange, 8/2/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Olsson's, 8/8/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Plan 9, 8/9/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from A/K/A, 8/11/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Vintage Vinyl, 8/12/06 EP (2006)
• You & Me Acoustic: Live from Luna Music, 8/16/06 EP (2006)
• Live from SoHo iTunes-exclusive EP (2007)
• Paradise Cove EP (2009)^[9][10]

Singles

Non-album tracks

• "Hunter Green" – Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. 1
• "Suspicious Minds" (Dusk Version) – "Suspicious Minds" CD Single
• "Suspicious Minds" (Dawn Version) – "Suspicious Minds" CD Single
• "I Feel Good Again" – Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. 2 and Concert Series Volume 1
• "Do They Know It's Christmas?" – The Year They Recalled Santa Claus
• "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" – We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to the Ramones
• "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" – Shrek 2 soundtrack
• "Red Right Hand" – Hellboy soundtrack
• "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" – Just like Heaven soundtrack
• "Skinny, Mean Man" – Say Anything's In Defense of the Genre

• "Undercover" – Spider-Man soundtrack
• "I Belong" – Open Season soundtrack
• "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Alice in My Fantasies," "I Feel Good Again," and "Chimes of Freedom" – Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume One
• "Splendid Isolation" – Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon

Unreleased songs

• "Farmer vs. River"
• "Model American"
• "When She's Mine"
• "You Never Knew"
• "James in Liverpool"
• "Velcro Shoes"
• "Rock Crowd"

Videography

• "June" (2001) directed by Steven Orrit
• "For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)" [Directed by Malik Sayeed]
• "Life on a Chain" (2001) [Directed by Sam Bayer]
• "Strange Condition" (2002) [Directed by Marcos Siega]
• "Come Back Home" 2004 directed by AV Club
• "Crystal Village" 2004 directed by AV Club
• "For Us" (2006) [Directed by Robert Hales]
• AMERICAN BLUES VOL. 1

Backing band

Yorn's current touring band is: Max Goldblatt – tambourine Joe Kennedy – piano, keyboards, and harmonica Mark Noseworthy – guitar Jonny Polonsky – guitar and mandolin Scott Seiver – drums Zak Shaffer – bass guitar

Pete Yorn's last touring band was Minibar, hailing from Britain and including the following members:

• Malcolm Cross – drums
• Sid Jordan – bass guitar and backing vocals
• Joe Kennedy – piano, guitar, and backing vocals (not part of Minibar)
• Simon Petty – backing vocals and guitar
• Tim Walker – guitars

Pete Yorn's former backing band went by the name Dirty Bird and includes the following members:

• Luke Adams – drums
• Terry Borden – bass guitar and backing vocals
• Jason Johnson – guitar
• Joe Kennedy – piano, guitar, backing vocals
• R. Walt Vincent – bass guitar

Pete Yorn's "eternal bandmates":

• Joe Kennedy – piano, guitar, and backing vocals
• WAZ – bass guitar, guitar, and back vocals

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pete Yorn

• Official site
• Myspace site
• Pete Yorn Interview on Silent Uproar
• Men's Vogue article on the Yorn brothers