John Darnielle

Infobox musical artist
Name = John Darnielle

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Img_capt = Darnielle in 2007
Background = khaki
Birth_name = John Darnielle
Alias =
Born = March 16 Bloomington, Indiana
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Singing, acoustic guitar
Genre = Folk rock, Lo-Fi, Singer-Songwriter
Occupation = Singer-Songwriter
Years_active = 1991-present
Label =
Associated_acts = The Mountain Goats, The Extra Glenns, The Seneca Twins, The Bloody Hawaiians, The Congress, The Crunch Sisters, Chicken Damage, The Salvation Brothers
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =

John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary (and often solitary) member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist.

Biography

Places Darnielle has lived

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Darnielle moved at a young age and grew up in and around California. He has also lived in Grinnell, Iowa; Ames, Iowa; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon and Denton, Texas. He currently resides in Durham, North Carolina with his Thai-American wife Lalitree Darnielle, an amateur photographer who was featured playing the banjo in the band's 1998 EP "New Asian Cinema". [ [http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1650670,00.html New Asian Cinema (album)] , artistdirect.com]

Early years

Darnielle grew up in Southern California and after high school went to work as a psychiatric nurse at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California. For a couple of years he lived on the Metropolitan State grounds, writing songs and playing his guitar when he wasn't working. During this time he began recording some of his songs onto cassette tapes using a Panasonic boombox. Shortly after working at the hospital, Darnielle attended Pitzer College from 1991–1995, earning a degree in English.

Throughout his college education he continued to record music and in 1992, Dennis Callaci, a friend of Darnielle's and owner of Shrimper Records, released a tape of Darnielle’s songs called "". Around that time, The Mountain Goats were born and began touring with just Darnielle on guitar and a bassist, first Rachel Ware and then Peter Hughes.

Musical career

Darnielle is best known for his role in the band The Mountain Goats. Since starting the band in 1991, he has gained a cult following. Despite being dubbed a low fidelity artist, Darnielle has always dubbed his work "bi-fi", pointing out that recordings such as his couldn't be made without modern technology. He is known for his prolific output and literary lyrics. In fact, The New Yorker magazine referred to him as "America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist". [ [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/05/16/050516crmu_music The Declaimers: The New Yorker ] ] In its June 2006 issue, "Paste" magazine named Darnielle one of the "100 Best Living Songwriters". [ [http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/3009/feature/music/pastes_100_best_living_songwriters_8190 Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters] ]

Darnielle has several series of songs with similar titles or storylines. A series entitled "Going To..." features small stories about various places and includes songs such as "Going to Cleveland", "Going to Maryland", "Going to Georgia", and "Going to Queens". This series explores the futility of running away from one's problems in stark and cryptic detail. His "Alpha" series is about a distressed couple's marriage and history, with such song titles as "Alpha Incipiens", "Alphabetizing", and "Alpha Rats Nest". The band's 2002 album "Tallahassee" was exclusively about the couple; there have subsequently been no more "Alpha" songs.

Darnielle has stated that all songs written up to and including those on "Tallahassee" are fictional, but that the two that followed ("We Shall All Be Healed" and "The Sunset Tree") are autobiographical.Fact|date=April 2008

Vegetarianism

Darnielle has been a vegetarian since 1996. [http://veganradio.com/shows/audio/VeganRadio20070621.mp3] In 2007 he performed at a benefit for the animal rights organization Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York.

Collaborations

Darnielle is featured on Aesop Rock's song "Coffee" (from the hip-hop artist's 2007 album "None Shall Pass") and appears in the corresponding music video.

In 2008, Darnielle announced the release of a tour-exclusive EP entitled "The Black Pear Tree", the result of a collaboration with tourmate Kaki King.

Book

Darnielle's first book, "Black Sabbath: Master of Reality", was released in April 2008 as part of the 33⅓ series.

Bands Darnielle has played in

Darnielle is also a member or former member of the following bands:

*The Extra Glenns (along with Franklin Bruno). Darnielle is "Glenn D", and Bruno is "Glenn B". They have released one full-length titled "Martial Arts Weekend", as well as "Infidelity" a double sided 7" EP.

*The Seneca Twins (along with Lalitree Darnielle and Chris Butler), whose 9-song demo, recorded in 1995, is still unreleased.

*The Bloody Hawaiians (along with Joel Huschle (Furniture Huschle), Mark Givens (Wckr Spgt), Caroline)

Releases: The Magnificent Bloody Hawaiians, Bastard Son, The Threegos, "Lemon" on Cool Beans #4)

*The Congress (along with Mark Givens and other anonymous members)-releases: Election Year, Sleeping Under Angels' Wings, We All Fall Down, She Lies in Roses, The Farm Out Back, No Milk Since 1979, Full Term.

*The Crunch Sisters

*Chicken Damage

*The Salvation Brothers

Last Plane to Jakarta

Darnielle has a blog titled Last Plane to Jakarta. [ [http://lastplanetojakarta.com/index.php Last Plane to Jakarta ] ] He also maintains the website [http://JohnDarnielle.com JohnDarnielle.com] , often writing about his love for mixed martial arts and prizefighting.

References

External links

* [http://www.themountaingoats.net TheMountainGoats.net]
* [http://www.mountain-goats.com Mountain-Goats.com]
* [http://johndarnielle.com JohnDarnielle.com]
* [http://lastplanetojakarta.com Last Plane to Jakarta]
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-sound-and-the-fury-an-interview-with-john-darnielle/ Interview with "3:AM Magazine"]
* [http://www.brassland.org/ahb/writing/archives/2006/02/chapter_and_ver.html Roundtable between Darnielle and authors Jonathan Lethem and Rick Moody on the crossbreeding of music & literature (3/2006)] From "LA Weekly"
* [http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2005/04/shorties_376.html Note Books essay at Largehearted Boy]

Persondata
NAME= Darnielle, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Singer-Songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH= March 16
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bloomington, Indiana, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=