John Darnielle
| John Darnielle | |
|---|---|
Darnielle playing a solo show under the name of the Mountain Goats at the Harvest of Hope Fest in St. Augustine, FL in 2010.
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| Background information | |
| Born |
March 16, 1967 Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, novelist |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Associated acts |
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John Darnielle (/dɑːrˈniːl/, born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary (and often solitary) member of the American band the Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist.
Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Darnielle grew up in Southern California with an abusive stepfather (as referenced frequently in The Sunset Tree). He attended Claremont High School. He lived in Portland, Oregon for a short time after high school, where he developed an addiction to intravenous methamphetamine and other hard drugs (as referenced in We Shall All Be Healed). Afterwards, he returned to California and went to work as a psychiatric nurse at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California. For a couple of years, he lived on the Metropolitan State grounds, writing songs and playing his guitar when he wasn't working. During this time he began recording some of his songs onto cassette tapes using a Panasonic boombox. Shortly after working at the hospital, Darnielle attended Pitzer College from 1991 to 1995, earning a degree in English.
Throughout his college education he continued to record music. In 1992, Dennis Callaci, a friend of Darnielle's and owner of Shrimper Records, released a tape of Darnielle’s songs called Taboo VI: The Homecoming. Around that time, the Mountain Goats were born and began touring with just Darnielle on guitar and a bassist, first Rachel Ware and then Peter Hughes.
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