Rachael Yamagata

Rachael Yamagata (born September 23 1978 in Arlington, Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter. She plays piano and has a dark, raspy alto.

Biography

A child of divorced parents, Yamagata divided her time growing up between her Sansei Japanese American father, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and Harvard graduate; and her Italian/German mother, an artist/painter in New York City. Yamagata graduated from the Holton-Arms School for Girls in Bethesda, Maryland in 1992. Her songs have featured on several TV shows, including Nip/Tuck, Men In Trees and The O.C. Yamagata also contributed a song to Mandy Moore's 2007 album (called Wild Hope). [1].

Bumpus and solo career

Yamagata became the vocalist for the Chicago funk-fusion band Bumpus, spending six years writing and recording three albums with the band and touring the country. In 2001, after having written a number of songs that didn't fit with the funk style of the band, Yamagata decided to take the songs and launch a solo career. In September 2002, she landed a two-record deal with Arista's Private Music and her self-titled EP was released in October.

She also made an appearance in Jason Mraz's second album, singing a song with him called Did You Get My Message?.

She also sings on track 7, "Fireflies", on Rhett Miller's solo CD, "The Believer", and on track 3, "Barfly", on Ray Lamontagne's "Till the Sun Turns Black", on "Let it Ride", "Cold Roses", and "Friends", on Ryan Adams' "Cold Roses. Don't forget the song Blame on Me from the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals."

Happenstance

Her first full-length album, Happenstance, followed in June 2004. Happenstance mostly consists of layered vocals, rhythmic piano, and production flourishes. It was produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Ben Folds Five) and contains piano-driven indie-rock comparable, but not identical, to Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan. "I Want You" features several members of the Klezmatics, the premiere Klezmer group in the country while "1963" contains jangly guitars that recall the Jackson Five. Videos were made for the first and second singles "Worn Me Down" and "1963".

Discography

Studio album

• Happenstance (2004)

(Her second album, yet untilted, is slated for release for late-spring of 2007.) [2]

EP

• Rachael Yamagata Ep (2003)
• Live at the Loft & More (2005)

Singles

• Worn me Down
• Letter Read
• 1963
• River

Live / Compilations

• Live at the Loft (Promo EP) (2004)
• Japan 2005 Tour Sampler
• Live at the Bonnaroo Music Festival (2004)released exclusively on Bonnaroo
• Sony Connect Sets (2005) released exclusively on Sony Connect
• KCRW Sessions: Rachel Yamagata (2005) released exclusively on iTunes
• Napster session: Rachael Yamagata (2005) released exclusively on Napster

Bumpus

• Bumpus (1999)
• Steroscope (2001)
• Bumpus live (2003) (without Rachael)

Other Contributions

• Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (2005)
• Bright Eyes - Four Winds (2007)
• Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (2007)

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