Family of the Year

Family of the Year
Family of the Year in 2013
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Indie rock, indie folk, indie pop
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Nettwerk Music Group
Website	Official website
Members	Joseph Keefe Sebastian Keefe Christina Schroeter James Buckey
Past members	Vanessa Jeanne Long Brent Freaney Meredith Sheldon

Family of the Year is an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California consisting of members Joseph Keefe (vocals/guitar), Sebastian Keefe (drums/vocals), James Buckey (guitar/vocals), and Christina Schroeter (keyboard/vocals). Their music uses melodic male/female vocal harmonies and folk tale-style lyrics. They are perhaps best known for their international chart hit, "Hero", which became a top 10 hit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.

Though Family of the Year is currently based in Los Angeles, California, brothers Joseph and Sebastian Keefe were born in Massachusetts, spent their teenage years in Wales, and eventually moved to Martha's Vineyard. James Buckey is from Jacksonville, Florida, while Christina Schroeter is from Orange County, California. Prior to forming Family of the Year, members Joseph Keefe and Sebastian Keefe enjoyed local Boston success in previous bands Unbusted and The Billionaires.

Family of the Year self-released their debut EP Where's the Sun on their Washashore imprint in September 2009. The EP includes "Let's Go Down", "Castoff", "Summer Girl", "What a Surprise", and "Psyche or Like Scope".

In October 2009, they were picked out of 700 artists by Ben Folds and Keith Lockhart to open for Ben and The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. Shortly after, the band flew west for California shows with Bell X1 before returning east for the CMJ Music Marathon, marking Family of the Year’s New York debut. SPIN selected the band as one 25 Must-Hear Artists from the 2009 CMJ Festival. In November 2009, they hit the road with Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros in support of their debut album, Songbook.