Pete Yorn

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Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn opening for the Dixie Chicks in Austin, Texas
Pete Yorn opening for the Dixie Chicks in Austin, Texas
Background information
Birth name Peter Joseph Yorn
Born July 27, 1974 (1974-07-27) (age 33)
Montville, New Jersey, U.S.
Genre(s) Rock
Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals
Guitar
Harmonica
Drums
Years active 2001 - present
Label(s) Sony BMG Music
Trampoline Records
Website www.peteyorn.com
Members
Minibar, Joe Kennedy
Former members
Dirty Bird

Peter (Pete) Yorn (b. July 27, 1974) 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.

Contents

[edit] Early history

Pete Yorn was born in New Jersey to a dentist (father) and a former concert-pianist turned school-teacher (mother). Yorn taught himself to play drums at age nine and soon moved on to guitar. Yorn attended Montville 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.

[edit] 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 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), Spider-Man (2002) and Shrek 2 (2004).

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.

Legendary 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 producer Ken Andrews of Failure and Year of the Rabbit on all three of Yorn's studio albums, in addition to several other producers including Butch Walker and Sonic Youth producer Don Fleming.

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

He is currently touring with the recently-reunited Crowded House on their first tour in over a decade. [1]

[edit] 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 finally arriving at nightfall with the Nightcrawler LP.

In September of 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]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Live albums

[edit] 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)

[edit] Singles

[edit] Non-album tracks

  • "Knew Enough to Know Nothing at All" - from the Japanese import of musicforthemorningafter
  • "Seventeen" - from the Japanese import of Day I Forgot
  • "Drive Away" - from the Japanese import of Day I Forgot
  • "Hunter Green" - from Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. 1
  • "Suspicious Minds (Dusk Version)" - from the Suspicious Minds CD Single
  • "Suspicious Minds (Dawn Version)" - from the Suspicious Minds CD Single
  • "I Feel Good Again" - from Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. 2 and Concert Series Volume 1
  • "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - from The Year They Recalled Santa Claus
  • "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" - from We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to the Ramones
  • "Ever Fallen in Love" - from the Shrek 2 soundtrack
  • "Red Right Hand" - from the Hellboy soundtrack
  • "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" - from the Just like Heaven soundtrack
  • "Skinny, Mean Man"-from Say Anything's In Defense of the Genre
  • "Undercover" was also released on the Spider-Man soundtrack
  • "Splendid Isolation" was also released on Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon
  • "I Belong" from the Open Season soundtrack
  • ""Where the Streets Have No Name," "Alice in My Fantasies," "I Feel Good Again," and "Chimes of Freedom" on Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume One

[edit] Unreleased songs

  • "Farmer vs. River"
  • "Soggy Underneath"
  • "Model American"
  • "Rooftop"
  • "When She's Mine"
  • "You Never Knew"
  • "James in Liverpool"

[edit] Videography

  • 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]
  • For Us (2006) [Directed by Robert Hales]
  • Come Back Home
  • Crystal Village

[edit] Backing band

Pete Yorn's current backing band Minibar hails from Britain and includes the following members:

  • Simon Petty - back vox/ guitar
  • Tim Walker - guitars
  • Joe Kennedy - piano/guitar/backing vox (not part of Minibar)
  • Sid Jordan - bass/backing vox
  • Malcolm Cross - drums

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

  • Jason Johnson - guitar
  • Terry Borden - bass/backing vox
  • Joe Kennedy - piano/guitar/backing vox
  • Luke Adams - drums
  • R. Walt Vincent - bass

Pete Yorn's "eternal bandmates":

  • WAZ - bass/guitar/back vox
  • Joe Kennedy - piano/guitar/backing vox

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

  • www.billboard.com
  • www.first-avenue.com
  • www.imdb.com
  • www.silentuproar.com

[edit] External links

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