• The Swell Season, Rachael Yamagata

  Houston Press - Found Nov. 11, 2009 Subject(s): , Rachael Yamagata Although Strict Joy may be a bit of an odd title for the sophomore effort from , it points to the direction the...

• Rachael Yamagata Hits the Road with Swell Season on November 12th

  Reuters - Found Nov. 3, 2009 ... in Support of Current Album Elephantsâ?¦Teeth Sinking Into Heart BURBANK, Calif.--(Business Wire)-- Rachael Yamagata will hit the road as...

• Mike Ragogna: It Takes The Village: Interviews with Shelby Lynne, ...

  Huffington Post - Found Oct. 30, 2009 Bruce Hornsby, Amos Lee, Shelby Lynne, Cowboy Junkies, John Oates, Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rachael Yamagata, and others.

• 'THE VILLAGE: A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF GREENWICH VILLAGE' ...

  CNBC - Found Nov. 3, 2009 Rain' 10) Shelby Lynne 'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright' 11) Cowboy Junkie 'Once I Was' 12) Rachael Yamagata 'Both Sides Now' 13) Rocco DeLuca...

• Rachael Yamagata Hits the Road with Swell Season on November 12th

  Business Wire via Yahoo! - Found Nov. 3, 2009 BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rachael Yamagata will hit the road as a very special guest of Irish band Swell Season for a fall U.S. tour of

• Rachael Yamagata Hits the Road with Swell Season on November 12th

  Business Wire - Found Nov. 3, 2009 Singer-Songwriter Touring in Support of Current Album Elephants&Teeth Sinking Into Heart BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rachael Yamagata will hit

• 429 Records Assembles All Star Folk/Rock Project 'THE VILLAGE: A ...

  CNBC - Found Aug. 19, 2009 ... proud of the result.' THE VILLAGE artists and songs: Lucinda Williams Positively 4th Street (Dylan) Rachael Yamagata Both Sides Now (Mitchell...

• Swell Season brings 'Joy' to Mesa

  AZCentral.com - Found Nov. 19, 2009 Peering from behind long raven-colored bangs, the unassuming Rachael Yamagata opened, softly whispered a welcome to the audience who were...

Rachael Yamagata
Background information
Born	September 23, 1977 (1977-09-23) (age 32) Arlington, Virginia
Genres	Adult alternative Blues rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Piano Guitar Vocals
Labels	RCA Victor (2003-2007); Warner Bros. Records (2008-)
Associated acts	Bumpus
Website	rachaelyamagata.com

Rachael Yamagata (born September 23, 1977)¹ is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Born in Arlington, Virginia, she is a Yonsei or fourth-generation Japanese American on her father's side and of Italian and German ancestry on her mother's side.

Early life

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, and attended Northwestern and Vassar. She has a twin brother, Benji.

Music career

Bumpus

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 produced by Malcolm Burn, Rachael Yamagata EP was released in October.

Solo career

Her first full-length album, Happenstance, followed in June 2004. It received generally positive reviews from critics. It was produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Ben Folds Five). "I Want You" features several members of prominent American Klezmer group The Klezmatics. Videos were made for the first and second singles "Worn Me Down" and "1963".

Her songs have featured on several TV shows, including Charmed, How I Met Your Mother, ER , Nip/Tuck, Men in Trees, Alias, One Tree Hill, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy and The O.C., to which she made a guest performance in season 2. Yamagata also contributed a song to Mandy Moore's 2007 album, Wild Hope.² She also toured with Moore, opening many of her shows around the country.

On May 22, 2008, a new banner was added to her site indicating the digital release of a new EP, Loose Ends, with three new songs, serving as a preview for the now delayed release of her second full-length album.

In early 2008, her site featured a "teaser video" for the new album. The album was finally released on October 7, 2008.³ Yamagata's second studio album is called Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart. This album is much darker than its predecessor and deals more with heartache.³ It was originally slated for release in the late-summer of 2007.⁴⁵

On October 9, 2008, a two-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring the songs "Faster" and "Sunday Afternoon"⁶.

On April 2, 2009, she performed her single "Elephants" on One Life to Live in the fictional Capricorn Cafe.⁷

She previewed the song "Jonah" on October 10, 2009 on her official website. Later on in November 2, Yamagata premiered the song "He Loves You Deep Inside". The song serve as an appetizer to her next record.

Yamagata's songs have appeared in a number of films and television shows. These include:

She made an appearance in Jason Mraz's second album, Mr. A–Z, singing a song with him called "Did You Get My Message?". She also sings on "Fireflies" and "The Believer" on Rhett Miller's solo CD The Believer; on Toots & the Maytals True Love; "Barfly" on Ray Lamontagne's Till the Sun Turns Black; and "Let it Ride", "Sweet Illusions", "Cold Roses", and "Friends", on Ryan Adams' Cold Roses. She sings backup on six tracks on the Bright Eyes' album Cassadaga. She co-wrote "Kaleidoscope" with Jill Cunniff, formerly of Luscious Jackson, for Cunniff's solo album City Beach and also plays keyboards and second vocals. Yamagata also performs with an ensemble cast on the 30 Rock episode "Kidney Now!"⁸

Discography

Studio albums

• Happenstance (2004)
• Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart (2008)

EPs

• EP (2003)
• Live at the Loft & More (2005)
• Loose Ends (2008)

Singles

• Worn Me Down
• Letter Read
• 1963
• River
• Elephants
• Faster
• Sunday Afternoon
• Be Be Your Love

Live/Compilations

• 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)

Other contributions

• WFUV: City Folk Live VII - "Worn Me Down" (2004)
• Toots & the Maytals - True Love (2004)
• Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (2005)
• Jason Mraz - Mr. A-Z (2005)
• Chris Holmes - Blister of the Spotlight (2006)
• Rhett Miller - The Believer (2006)
• Ray LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black (2006)
• Bright Eyes - Four Winds (2007)
• Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (2007)
• Ben Arthur - Mouhfeel (2007)
• Mandy Moore - Wild Hope (2007)
• Jill Cunniff - City Beach (2007)

References

External links

• Official website
• Rachael Yamagata at MySpace
• Rachael Yamagata at the Internet Movie Database
• Rachael Yamagata at TV.com
• Rachael Yamagata: Confessions on Happenstance
• Elephants Review