Featured Artist: Owl City
Owl City first came to fame during the release of their mainstream hit single Fireflies in 2009. The track appeared on the hugely successful album Ocean Eyes.
Adam Young formed Owl City on his own in 2007, while suffering from insomnia when working on loading trucks in his hometown Owatonna MN. He then started to compose music, deciding to share his music with the world via myspace and receiving mass attention for those songs. What followed was a set of EP releases, first was Of June followed by the release of Maybe I'm Dreaming in 2009.
It wasn't until the release of album Ocean Eyes in 2009 that Owl City seemed to take off to crazy heights of success. Ocean Eyes was released on iTunes in July 2009, with the physical release following two weeks later and debuting at number 27 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned three official singles, Umbrella Beach, Vanilla Twilight and the stunning Fireflies, the latter becoming the most downloaded track on iTunes.
Relient K have strong links with Owl City. Vocalist of Relient K Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including 'Fireflies', where Matt can be heard providing the backing vocals. Adam Young also produced Relient K's song 'Terminals'. Thiessen stated that it is very likely that he and Young will produce a side project called "Goodbye Dubai" in the future.
While Young writes, composes, records, and produces all of Owl City's music, during live performances he is accompanied by a group of supporting musicians: Breanne Düren Keyboards & Vocals, Daniel Jorgensen on guitar and xylophone, Laura Musten on Violin, Hannah Schroeder playing the Cello, Matthew Decker plays the Drums.
Moving onto the near future and Owl City are about to release their second album All Things Bright and Beautiful. Produced by Adam Young and mixed by Young along with Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer Jack Joseph Puig (Delirious, Beck, Mary J. Blige, Green Day), 'All Things Bright And Beautiful' features twelve new songs including lead single 'Alligator Sky', which hit radio stations in April, plus other tracks including 'Deer In The Headlights', 'Dreams Don't Turn To Dust' and 'Wear My Heart On My Sleeve'.
Alongside the release of the new album, Owl City will kick off a major US Tour in Nashville on 13th June at the historic Ryman Auditorium, continuing through until 30th July in Minneapolis.
