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Pete Yorn w/ Isaac Russell
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Sunday November 15, 2009 at 8:00 PM
The WorkPlay SoundStage
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Music
(Singer/Songwriter - Alt. Rock)
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Find Pete Yorn w/ Isaac Russell on...
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This is an All Ages show.
New Jersey born rocker Pete Yorn taught himself to play his older brother's drum kit at the age of 9 and was learning the guitar by the time he turned 12. Music was something Pete was naturally drawn to, but like many things in his life it had to be on his terms. He had earlier rebelled against piano and violin lessons, showing no interest in learning music like a science. Instead he used his natural ability to play music just by hearing it in his head. It was this process which allowed him to begin creating his original songs. Pete was 12 years old when he went on vacation with his family in the Bahamas, he met a young girl from Pensacola, FL who introduced him to the music of Morrissey and the Smiths, this opened up Pete’s world even further. Being from suburban New Jersey, PY remembers gravitating toward that music instantly because it seemed so exotic at the time. The melodies touched his soul in a way that the then popular "hair band" genre did not.
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Isaac Russell | 8:00 PM
 “At age 11, Isaac Russell was frequently seen wearing a white Fender guitar strap, an oversized suit coat and his love of music on his sleeve. His musical talents were exhibited before then, [as he] possessed a knack for songwriting even before kindergarten.” – Brooke Brown, The Daily Herald, July 31, 2008.
Since birth, Isaac Russell has been surrounded by music. Before it was fashionable, his father, filmmaker and film professor Thomas Russell, spent years compiling an enviable music collection which included artists from Brahms to Badly Drawn Boy and everything in between. His love of music must have been genetic, as all three of the Russell kids [Spencer, Becca and Isaac] have grown up to be musicians and singer/songwriters – each one brilliant in their own right.
Admiring his brother’s musical talent, Isaac first picked up a guitar to play backup at the age of 12. Self taught, he was quickly on track to accompany his brother and then, just as quickly, developing his own mean blues licks. His inherent ability and natural gift had him writing his own tunes in no time.
After the devastating passing of his mother in 2005, Isaac channeled the difficulty of that loss into sophisticated composition. Losing your mother at age 13 creates a wave of crisis better put on paper, then tape. Much of the material he created by the time he was 15 would ultimately become ELIZABETH, Isaac’s first album. Produced when he was 16, ELIZABETH is a remarkably eloquent musical account of life experience rendered by a person of any age – let alone a teen boy. The events of his own life and the experiences of people around him have made Isaac mindful of the difficulties – even tragedies – in the lives of everyday people. For Isaac both then and now, writing songs seems the only way through turbulent times.
Named for his mother, ELIZABETH is an album built around the life of a boy ushered into adulthood at an early age. The Jonas Brothers this certainly is not. Rather, the songs demonstrate the maturity of some of today’s most accomplished songwriters.
“I held my sparkler as I walked
Death was inevitable but nobody talked
We’d just forget love
We’d strike the match
And the fuse was life and the light was death”
--from “Elizabeth”
The vibrant local music scene in and around Provo, Utah gave Isaac a stage on which to perform. He took advantage of open mic nights at many local venues including Velour Live Music Gallery and Muse Music.
“I’ve watched Isaac Russell grow from a 4-foot-nothing 12 year old playing blues licks to a towering 17 year old writing incredibly heartfelt material.“ – Corey Fox, owner of Velour Live Music Gallery, Salt Lake City Weekly Magazine.
With continuing encouragement from his family, Isaac put together a band and began playing local gigs. Enter producer and recording artist Joshua James and his producing partner McKay Stevens, and things started happening. These local impresarios recognized Isaac’s gift and the potential he had for commercial success. They produced the fledgling ELIZABETH and released the album under Isaac’s then stage name RuRu, putting to tape an album that highlights the essence of Isaac’s songwriting and touches everyone who hears it.
Quietly released on the internet [iTunes and amazon.com], and sold at local record stores and live gigs under the Northplatte label, ELIZABETH’s accolades include reaching #2 on the iTunes indie chart. A west coast tour and continued sold-out dates in Utah added to the buzz surrounding Isaac.
“It’s hard to believe how good Isaac is until you see [him] live. Most everyone who has seen the band perform swears by the singer’s brilliance…” – UVU Review
Countless books and films have tried to capture the experience of being a teenager – most written by adults. Isaac presents his own telling. No entitlements or chips on his shoulder, just his honest feelings.
“You have made me a man darlin’
And I wish you well
But you and my best friend
Can go to hell”
--from “Made Me a Man”
As chance would have it, ELIZABETH was past from Isaac’s grandmother to a music industry veteran who distributes music to her antique store. Label interest was immediate. Isaac is currently in the midst of recording his Columbia Records debut with producer Dennis Herring (Modest Mouse, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows).
Big things are in store for young Isaac. As if being a local rock star and a high school senior with a full load of classes isn’t enough, Isaac has been busy contributing music to his dad’s feature film mr. dungebeetle and playing a small role in the upcoming Jared and Jerusha Hess [Napolean Dynamite, Nacho Libre] film Gentlemen Broncos.
Tune in for more.
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Pete Yorn Band | 9:00 PM
 From the beginning of his career, singer/songwriter/rocker Pete Yorn has been the topic of numerous critical accolades. Rolling Stone, who picked Pete as one of the magazine's "Ten to Watch in 2001," gave Pete's debut album, musicforthemorningafter, a four-star (****) rating calling the album "…atmospheric, gently lit by sunlight and regret." Pete's debut album was certified RIAA gold as of April 24, 2002.
USA Today observed "The latest last great hope for the ailing singer/songwriter genre may vaguely resemble a young Springsteen….His insinuating melodies and lean…driving graceful arrangements evoke R.E.M.'s early work. It's impossible to pigeonhole Yorn's music…inspired quirkiness makes him, if not the future of rock 'n' roll, at least a promising new disciple."
Pete Yorn was born in New Jersey, his father a dentist, his mother a former concert pianist-turned-schoolteacher. He taught himself to play his older brother's drum kit at the age of nine and was learning the guitar by the time he was 12. Around that time, while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas, a fellow vacationer -- a girl from Pensacola, Florida -- introduced Pete to the music of Morrissey and the Smiths.
Pete started singing, and writing his own material, following a particularly memorable talent show at Montville (New Jersey) High School in 1990. Though he had never sung in public before, he was recruited by his bandmates to croon the Replacements' "Talent Show" from behind his drum-kit. The performance caused such a stir that the members of a different band in the competition cajoled Pete back to the stage to join them in belting out a raucous rendition of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World." Since that night, he's never looked back.
After graduating from Syracuse University, Pete migrated to Los Angeles, where he began to attract a following with his performances at Cafe Largo. Bradley Thomas (producer of the Farrelly Brothers' "Kingpin" and "There's Something About Mary") caught Yorn's act and asked him to send along some rough demos for inclusion in the Farrellys’ Jim Carrey movie, "Me, Myself and Irene." The Farrellys used "Strange Condition" and "Just Another" in the film, for which Pete also composed the score. "Just Another" was also featured on "Felicity" and the Songs From Dawson's Creek Volume 2 album.
Pete's music has been included in original soundtracks for a number of films, including "Orange County" (2001), "Spider-Man" (2002) and "Shrek 2" (2004).
Pete Yorn has toured actively since the release of musicforthemorningafter and has shared bills with the Foo Fighters, Semisonic, Coldplay, REM, and others. He was the headline artist on the inaugural MTV2 Handpicked Tour and played drums on a set of Stooges covers with Iggy Pop, Mike Watt, and the Hives' Mike Vigilante and Pelle Almqvist at the second annual Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement at Los Angeles' Henry Fonda Theater.
Day I Forgot, Pete's eagerly-awaited successor to musicforthemorningafter, was released in April 2003 to widespread critical acclaim and debuted at #18 on the Billboard 200 best-selling album chart.
Pete Yorn's last release, Live from New Jersey, a stunning full-length performance recorded at the Community Theater in Morristown, New Jersey, on October 29, 2003, was released in January 2004. Like Yorn's concerts themselves, his live album was a treasure trove for fans as well as an ideal introduction to the scope of Pete's music.
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