Deyarmond Edison

DeYarmond Edison is perhaps best known as the former band of the members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, and Field Report. Guitarist and vocalist Justin Vernon created Bon Iver; the remaining members (Brad Cook: bass, guitar; Phil Cook: keyboards, banjo; Joe Westerlund: Percussion) went on to form the freak folk group Megafaun.

The band began as friends from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, evolving from Justin Vernon’s early band Mount Vernon and takes its name from Justin Vernon’s two middle names. The members first met at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in 1997, bonded at a Wisconsin jazz camp, and played together in various combinations before finally playing as DeYarmond Edison in 2002. The band’s style is a blend of folk and Americana sounds with more modern atmospheric and electronic elements. DeYarmond Edison recorded two albums while in Eau Claire, a self-titled album and Silent Signs.

After a period of success in Eau Claire’s music scene the band decided to move to Raleigh, North Carolina to begin a musical career in a new location. The band experienced some success in Raleigh, but eventually broke up because of tensions caused by different musical directions and philosophies and personal reasons. The breakup also occurred subsequent to Vernon falling severely ill with a form of mononucleosis that damages the liver. After the breakup, which was officially announced on the band’s MySpace page on September 15, 2006, DeYarmond Edison made a five track unreleased EP available for download. Four of the songs can be downloaded for free on the band’s MySpace page.

Following the dissolution of DeYarmond Edison, Vernon eventually returned to Wisconsin to live in his father’s cabin, and over the course of 3 months of isolation, he produced what became the Bon Iver album For Emma, Forever Ago. The remaining members DeYarmond Edison formed Megafaun, eventually releasing their own album Bury the Square.

Former member Christopher Porterfield spent the following five years composing material for his solo project, Field Report, which was released in September of 2012.