Biography
Three accomplished musicians formed Bonny Light Horseman to explore contemporary folk that honors earlier eras while reshaping inherited forms. Playwright, songwriter, and musician Anaïs Mitchell joined songwriter, producer, and composer Eric D. Johnson and producer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman; their loose early exchanges gained direction when Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon prompted them to present the material live, blending the melodic force of traditional folk with indie textures. That suggestion initiated the path to their self-titled debut album in early 2020.
Creative meetings held in Upstate New York during spring 2021 developed into the follow-up full-length Rolling Golden Holy, issued in 2022 and devoted to original songs. The band chose a historic Irish tavern as its operational base while preparing the 2024 double LP Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free.
Eric D. Johnson, long identified with his Fruit Bats project, shared an established friendship with Josh Kaufman, whose production and performance credits include the National, Craig Finn, and Josh Ritter. Through online contact Johnson connected with Anaïs Mitchell, the indie folksinger whose Broadway authorship of Hadestown earned eight Tony Awards, among them Best Musical. Johnson and Kaufman had already begun adapting traditional folk songs; when they invited Mitchell to participate, the three refined antique ballads into settings that preserved their lineage while introducing updated sonics. Justin Vernon, widely known as Bon Iver, learned of the work and extended an invitation to the 2018 Eaux Claires Festival, which he founded with Aaron Dessner.
Listeners and participants responded positively, leading Vernon and Dessner to schedule a week-long residency in Berlin under their 37d03d collective—the name reads “People” when inverted. At the Funkhaus the musicians shaped vocal harmonies and arrangements for ten pieces, documenting the process with additional contributions from other 37d03d artists; by the end of the week they possessed material sufficient for an album. After further mixing and overdubs in Woodstock and Hurley, New York, they adopted the name Bonny Light Horseman from a sixteenth-century British ballad and released the self-titled album on the 37d03d label in January 2020.
Near the close of that year the group issued a single containing the non-album recordings “Green Rocky Road” and “Greenland Fishery.” Plans for a second album encountered delays, most notably from the COVID-19 pandemic, postponing in-person work until spring 2021. Mitchell, Johnson, and Kaufman reconvened in Upstate New York for writing sessions, then tracked eleven new songs at Aaron Dessner’s studio and an old church noted for its acoustics, assisted by drummer J.T. Bates and bassist and saxophonist Mike Lewis. The first track to surface, “California,” appeared in June 2022 as a preview of Rolling Golden Holy, an album leaning toward Americana and pop that arrived on 37d03d that October.
Their first release on Jagjaguwar, the double LP Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, came out in 2024. Rooted in themes of love, loss, hope, sorrow, community, and family, many of its songs took shape at the century-old Levis Corner House pub in Ballydehob, Ireland.
Creative meetings held in Upstate New York during spring 2021 developed into the follow-up full-length Rolling Golden Holy, issued in 2022 and devoted to original songs. The band chose a historic Irish tavern as its operational base while preparing the 2024 double LP Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free.
Eric D. Johnson, long identified with his Fruit Bats project, shared an established friendship with Josh Kaufman, whose production and performance credits include the National, Craig Finn, and Josh Ritter. Through online contact Johnson connected with Anaïs Mitchell, the indie folksinger whose Broadway authorship of Hadestown earned eight Tony Awards, among them Best Musical. Johnson and Kaufman had already begun adapting traditional folk songs; when they invited Mitchell to participate, the three refined antique ballads into settings that preserved their lineage while introducing updated sonics. Justin Vernon, widely known as Bon Iver, learned of the work and extended an invitation to the 2018 Eaux Claires Festival, which he founded with Aaron Dessner.
Listeners and participants responded positively, leading Vernon and Dessner to schedule a week-long residency in Berlin under their 37d03d collective—the name reads “People” when inverted. At the Funkhaus the musicians shaped vocal harmonies and arrangements for ten pieces, documenting the process with additional contributions from other 37d03d artists; by the end of the week they possessed material sufficient for an album. After further mixing and overdubs in Woodstock and Hurley, New York, they adopted the name Bonny Light Horseman from a sixteenth-century British ballad and released the self-titled album on the 37d03d label in January 2020.
Near the close of that year the group issued a single containing the non-album recordings “Green Rocky Road” and “Greenland Fishery.” Plans for a second album encountered delays, most notably from the COVID-19 pandemic, postponing in-person work until spring 2021. Mitchell, Johnson, and Kaufman reconvened in Upstate New York for writing sessions, then tracked eleven new songs at Aaron Dessner’s studio and an old church noted for its acoustics, assisted by drummer J.T. Bates and bassist and saxophonist Mike Lewis. The first track to surface, “California,” appeared in June 2022 as a preview of Rolling Golden Holy, an album leaning toward Americana and pop that arrived on 37d03d that October.
Their first release on Jagjaguwar, the double LP Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, came out in 2024. Rooted in themes of love, loss, hope, sorrow, community, and family, many of its songs took shape at the century-old Levis Corner House pub in Ballydehob, Ireland.
Singles
