Casey Dienel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Casey Dienel

Background information
Origin	Scituate, Massachusetts
Genre(s)	Pop Indie Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, pianist, composer
Years active	1999 - Present
Label(s)	Dead Oceans, Hush Records
Associated acts	White Hinterland
Website	White Hinterland

Casey Dienel (born March 10, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She released her debut album, Wind-Up Canary, in 2006 on Hush Records. Dienel presently performs and records as White Hinterland, whose first album, titled Phylactery Factory, was released on March 4, 2008, by the independent record label Dead Oceans.

1 Biography
2 Wind-Up Canary
3 Vessels
4 White Hinterland
5 Discography
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Casey Dienel spent the bulk of her young life living in Scituate, Massachusetts. She took her first piano lessons at age 4, and at age 14 began writing her own pop songs^[1]. While attending Scituate High School, Dienel formed a short-lived band named Helen Keller. The band's tagline was "Music You Can Feel," and their repertoire included cover songs in addition to original compositions addressing topics such as Latin and Henry Spodek.

After high school, Dienel moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory of Music, having turned down an offer of acceptance from Sarah Lawrence College. After one semester of studying opera vocals, she opted to switch her major to classical composition. During her two years at the conservatory, Dienel studied with many notable musicians, including jazz vocalist Dominique Eade and composer Lee Hyla, before taking an indefinite leave of absence to pursue her own music career.

While living in Boston during her Conservatory years, Dienel met Dylan Metrano of the band Tiger Saw, and has since been an occasional member of the band's rotating lineup.

[edit] Wind-Up Canary

During the winter of 2005, Dienel was offered the chance to record for free at an abandoned caretaker's house on a farm in Leominster, Massachusetts. With some Conservatory friends and a piano borrowed from the lobby of a local hotel, she recorded a number of her own songs without any intention of releasing them. Without Dienel's knowledge, a copy of these recordings made its way to Chad Crouch, the head of Hush Records, who contacted her about releasing an album.^[2] Dienel agreed and Hush released the recordings as Wind-Up Canary in March of 2006.

[edit] Vessels

On November 29th, 2006, Casey Dienel announced that she was working with producer Djim Reynolds on recording an EP titled Vessels, and that she hoped to release it in early 2007. Dienel had this to say about the project:

I've had my head shoved in the books for several weeks now, attempting to finish a little EP for your ears that I'm calling Vessels. I can't talk too much about it, for you know how fickle I am when it comes to these things, but hopefully in the new year it will find its way to your hands with ribbons and brass, etc. I can tell you that some sounds are sprawling and some are still quite intimate, and it features a few of my favorite friends with me.^[3]

To date, Vessels remains unreleased.

[edit] White Hinterland

On January 4, 2008, after a few months hinting at "change"^[4], Dienel announced in her blog that "for the present and foreseeable future, there won’t be any more Casey Dienel."^[5] Her blog post coincided with Dead Oceans' announcement of the forthcoming release of White Hinterland's album Phylactery Factory:

2008 is here, and with the new year comes the influx of new albums. Dead Oceans is thrilled to partake in this ritual, and we are enthused to officially welcome White Hinterland to our label family. Led by the talented Casey Dienel, White Hinterland have crafted the mysterious Phylactery Factory, which will arrive in record stores worldwide on March 4, 2008.^[6]