The National is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). During live performances, the band are joined by longtime touring members, Ben Lanz and Kyle Resnick. Carin Besser, the wife of Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.
Alligator is the third studio album by American indie rock band the National, released on April 12, 2005 on Beggars Banquet. Recorded and produced by Peter Katis and Paul Mahajan, the album brought The National critical acclaim and increased their fanbase significantly.
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is the second studio album by indie rock band the National. It was released in 2003 on Brassland Records. This is the first album on which the band worked with Peter Katis, who would produce the band's next albums Alligator and Boxer.
Clogs are a mostly instrumental project led by Bryce Dessner and Padma Newsome. Clogs have released five albums on Brassland Records—Thom's Night Out (2001), Lullaby for Sue (2003), Stick Music (2004), Lantern (2006) and The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton (2010).
Brassland is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Alec Hanley Bemis, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner.
Shara Nova is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, David Lang, Steve Mackey and Bryce Dessner have composed pieces for Nova's voice. She has recorded as a guest vocalist with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stateless as well as extensive collaborations with visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Matthew Barney. She was formerly the frontwoman of AwRY. On March 3, 2016, Shara legally changed her last name from Worden to Nova after divorcing her husband, to whom she had been married most of her adult life.
Boxer is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band the National, released on May 22, 2007, on Beggars Banquet Records. Following its release, the album debuted at number 68 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 9,500 copies in its first week.
"Fake Empire" is a song by Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National from their fourth studio album, Boxer. The song was released in June 2008 as the album's third and final single.
Bryce David Dessner is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, and a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother, Aaron is also a member of the group. Together, they write the music in collaboration with lead singer and lyricist Matt Berninger.
Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's critically acclaimed studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade; as well as The Tortured Poets Department (2024).
David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first album Heavy Ghost in 2009 on the Asthmatic Kitty label. He currently resides in Rochester, New York.
MusicNOW is a contemporary music and arts festival founded in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Chamber Music Cincinnati. President Audrey Luna and guitarist and composer Bryce Dessner curated this inaugural season. It was originally held at the Contemporary Arts Center and later moved to Memorial Hall, a small historic theater located in the city's historic Over-the-Rhine district. Festival performers have included contemporary music advocates Bang on a Can All-Stars and Kronos Quartet as well as indie rock groups such as Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and The National. Two annual elements of the festival have been the inclusion of visual art, including installations by Karl Jensen, and new music commissions.
High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.
David Spelman is an American, New York-based, record producer and curator working in recordings, films and live events
Sarah Kirkland Snider is an American composer. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral, song cycle, choral, and ballet works.
This Is My Hand is the fourth studio album from the American rock group My Brightest Diamond.
Planetarium is a collaborative album featuring Bryce Dessner of the indie rock band The National, drummer James McAlister, contemporary classical music composer and arranger Nico Muhly, and singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. The album was released by 4AD on June 9, 2017. The group announced the recording on March 26, sharing the album's track listing along with the song "Saturn".
"Coney Island" is a song by Taylor Swift featuring the National, taken from Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Swift, Joe Alwyn, and the National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner wrote the song, with the latter two producing it. Matt Berninger contributed guest vocals. Republic Records sent "Coney Island" to US adult album alternative radio as a single on January 18, 2021.
How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last? is the second studio album by American indie duo Big Red Machine, which consists of musicians Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. It was released on August 27, 2021, via 37d03d and Jagjaguwar record labels. Dessner stated the album is built around themes of childhood, familial dynamics, and mental health. He cited The Last Waltz, the 1978 live album by the Band, as an inspiration for the record.
Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy is a 2020 EP by Bartees Strange, covering songs by The National. It was reissued as a deluxe edition 2024. The digital version was seven tracks rather than five tracks long and included an extended version of "Looking for Astronauts." The new vinyl edition included a bonus track: "Lemonworld".
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