All We Grow

When he learned that Justin Vernon was expanding Bon Iver from a one-man project into a full band, Sean Carey retreated to his bedroom, broke down For Emma, Forever Ago into parts, and learned each one. After approaching Vernon at a show and briefly jamming together, Carey was hired more or less on the spot. That's not the most exciting chapter of the Bon Iver story, but it says a great deal about Carey and his first solo album, the shimmery, contemplative All We Grow. With a degree in classical percussion from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Carey approaches songwriting and recording as a student: obsessive and detail oriented, able to absorb a great deal of information and restate it not rotely, but artfully. He has obviously spent a great deal of time absorbing the works of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Mark Hollis, and Bill Evans, and on his solo songs he renders those sounds and influences into music that lies somewhere between folk and composition.

Sean Carey was in the band Bon Iver. Sean Carey is from Wisconsin. Some of this album was recorded at Justin Vernon’s studio in Eau Claire. Some of it sounds a lot like For Emma, For Ever Ago. What is more interesting than this though - than these fickle facts - is how this came to be.