Bon Iver Emerges From Hibernation To Tour With New Album

01/23/08 7:00pm

Eau Claire, Wisconsin buzz act Bon Iver will play five Canadian shows in support of his For Emma, Forever Ago full-length debut that will come out on CD and vinyl through Jagjaguwar on Feb. 19.

Bon Iver (pronounced "bohn eevair," and an intentionally misspelled version of the French term for "good winter") is falsetto-voiced Justin Vernon. After the break-up of his longtime band, he moved to his father's remote cabin in the woods of northwestern Wisconsin by himself for three wintry months to record the album's nine acoustic-based songs with a few microphones and old equipment.

Excitement has been growing about Bon Iver since a couple of well-received sets at October's CMJ Music Marathon in New York City and the distribution of some self-pressed advance copies of the album. You can get an idea if all the hype is worth it by listening to "Skinny" on the Jagjaguwar website.

Here are Bon Iver's Canadian tour dates:

Feb. 26 Moncton, NB @ Manhattan w/Black Mountain
Feb. 27 Halifax, NS @ Marquee Club w/Black Mountain
Feb. 29 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa w/Black Mountain
March 5 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace w/Black Mountain
March 25 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club

Here are the songs on For Emma, Forever Ago:

"Flume"
"Lump Sum"
"Skinny Love"
"The Wolves (Act I And II)"
"Blindsided"
"Creature Fear"
"Team"
"For Emma"
"Re: Stacks"