She & Him

Infobox musical artist
Name = She & Him


Img_capt = She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward)
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Portland, Oregon, United States
Genre = Indie rock
Indie folk
Alt-country
Associated_acts = If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies
Years_active = 2006–present
Label = Merge
URL =
Current_members = Zooey Deschanel
M. Ward
Past_members =

She & Him is an American indie rock band consisting of actress Zooey Deschanel (vocals, piano, banjo) and musician M. Ward (guitar, production)Scaggs, Austin. [http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/02/05/smoking-section-modest-mouse-zooey-deschanel-kings-of-leon/ "Smoking Section: Modest Mouse, Zooey Deschanel, Kings of Leon"] "Rolling Stone", February 5, 2008.] . The band's first album "Volume One" was released on Merge Records in March, 2008 Solarski, Matthew. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/47943-m-wardzooey-deschanel-album-details-surfacel "M. Ward/Zooey Deschanel Album Details Surface"] "Pitchfork Media", January 11, 2008.] . The group played at the 2008 South by Southwest festival. Solarski, Matthew. [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/48189-m-ward-zooey-deschanel-reveal-she-him-lp-details "M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel Reveal She & Him LP Details"] "Pitchfork Media", January 22, 2008.] The duo is augmented by session musicians Rachel Blumberg (drums), Mike Mogis (pedal steel guitar, mandolin) and Mike Coykendall (bass, guitar).Hasty, Katie. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003704920 "Ward Helps Deschanel Find Her Voice"] "Billboard", January 31, 2008.]

History

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first met on the set of the film "The Go-Getter", in which the actress had a starring role. The director of the film, Martin Hynes, introduced the two and asked them to sing a duet together to be played at the end credits of the film. They decided to perform a Richard and Linda Thompson song entitled "When I Get to the Border". The two bonded over their shared interest in certain songs and artists. M. Ward, having heard Deschanel sing previously in the film "Elf", was surprised that she wrote songs herself and had many home demos. He asked her to send them to him. Deschanel was shy about music, but sent them to him anyway. M. Ward called her a short time later, and told her that he would like to record her songs properly, and their band She & Him was formed.

"Volume One"

The two originally worked together via e-mail, with M. Ward in his Portland, Oregon studio and Deschanel in her Los Angeles, California home. Ward would spend time "tinkering" with the music after Deschanel sent it to him, but Zooey eventually had to go to his studio to put the finishing touches on their album. They recorded in Portland in December 2006 and February-March 2007. It took them three recording sessions to complete the album. They also recorded in Mike Coykendall's and Adam Selzer's studios, and had a mixing session with Mike Mogis in his Omaha, Nebraska studio in either April or May 2007.

They took a break after that, as M. Ward was on tour and Zooey Deschanel was filming a movie. Their album was released on March 18, 2008. Their first public appearance as a band, however, was a year and two months earlier at the Sundance screening of The Go-Getter. They performed sporadically at other events and plan to go on tour this summer. The duo also plan to create a second album, entitled "Volume Two".

2008 Tour

She & Him went on tour during July and August 2008. Becky Stark of the band Lavender Diamond provided back up vocals. The dates of the tour were as follows:

*July 23 - Toronto, ON - Opera House
*July 24 - Northampton, MA - Academy of Music
*July 25 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
*July 26 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
*July 28 - Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
*July 29 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
*July 30 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
*July 31 - Ashevlle, NC - Orange Peel
*August 2 - Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
*August 4 - Columbus OH- Wexner Center for the Arts
*August 5 - Chicago, IL - Park West
*August 7 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
*August 8 - Madison, WI - Barrymore
*August 10 - Baltimore, MD - Virgin Mobile Festival

Discography

Albums

* "Volume One" (March 18, 2008) #71 US [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=969848&model.vnuAlbumId=1104281]

ingles

* "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" (January, 2008)

Compilations

* "When I Get To The Border" (2007) on "The Go-Getter OST"

ee also

*If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, a Los Angeles cabaret act that Deschanel was also part of

References

External links

* [http://www.sheandhim.com Official website]
*MySpace-music|sheandhim|She & Him
* [http://www.mergerecords.com/band.php?bio=true&band_id=140 She & Him bio at Merge Records website]
* [http://stevehopson.com/MusicIndex/SheAndHim1.htm She & Him photos]