Biography
Neyla Pekarek, whose solo output merges adult-alternative pop with subtle traces of classic vocal traditions, contributed cello and vocals to the Lumineers, the folk-rock and Americana outfit that reached the upper reaches of the charts, before launching her own career. Her warm, bright voice, honed through earlier musical-theater training, surfaced on her first release, the concept album Rattlesnake, which appeared in 2019.
Born in Aurora, Colorado, on the outskirts of Denver, Pekarek took up the cello at nine and later added piano and mandolin. While attending Overland High School, a choir instructor prompted her to try singing, leading to her casting as Cosette in a school staging of Les Misérables.
After completing a music-education degree at the University of Northern Colorado in 2009, she answered a Denver band’s call for a cellist and soon joined Wesley Schultz on vocals and guitar alongside Jeremiah Fraites on drums and percussion to form the Lumineers’ original lineup. Their self-titled 2011 EP generated enough attention to secure management, after which the trio headed to Seattle to work with producer Ryan Hadlock on a full-length debut. Before the record surfaced, “Ho Hey” began circulating in key radio markets; when Dualtone issued the Lumineers’ self-titled LP in April 2012, the surrounding buzz had already grown substantial. Powered by “Ho Hey” and the follow-up “Stubborn Love,” a track later found on President Obama’s personal playlist, the album climbed to number two on the Billboard Top 200 and earned two Grammy nominations. Two years of near-constant touring followed as the group’s visibility increased. By 2016 the Lumineers had finished Cleopatra, released that April, which topped the charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. After their own global trek, the band was invited by U2 to support the North American dates of the Joshua Tree 30th-anniversary tour.
While traveling with the Lumineers, Pekarek started shaping her own songs, drawing from the story of early-20th-century Colorado figure “Rattlesnake Kate” Slaughterback. The resulting concept album, Rattlesnake, came out on S-Curve in early 2019. Around the same time she informed the Lumineers of her departure and received a commission from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to shape a stage musical based on the record.
Born in Aurora, Colorado, on the outskirts of Denver, Pekarek took up the cello at nine and later added piano and mandolin. While attending Overland High School, a choir instructor prompted her to try singing, leading to her casting as Cosette in a school staging of Les Misérables.
After completing a music-education degree at the University of Northern Colorado in 2009, she answered a Denver band’s call for a cellist and soon joined Wesley Schultz on vocals and guitar alongside Jeremiah Fraites on drums and percussion to form the Lumineers’ original lineup. Their self-titled 2011 EP generated enough attention to secure management, after which the trio headed to Seattle to work with producer Ryan Hadlock on a full-length debut. Before the record surfaced, “Ho Hey” began circulating in key radio markets; when Dualtone issued the Lumineers’ self-titled LP in April 2012, the surrounding buzz had already grown substantial. Powered by “Ho Hey” and the follow-up “Stubborn Love,” a track later found on President Obama’s personal playlist, the album climbed to number two on the Billboard Top 200 and earned two Grammy nominations. Two years of near-constant touring followed as the group’s visibility increased. By 2016 the Lumineers had finished Cleopatra, released that April, which topped the charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. After their own global trek, the band was invited by U2 to support the North American dates of the Joshua Tree 30th-anniversary tour.
While traveling with the Lumineers, Pekarek started shaping her own songs, drawing from the story of early-20th-century Colorado figure “Rattlesnake Kate” Slaughterback. The resulting concept album, Rattlesnake, came out on S-Curve in early 2019. Around the same time she informed the Lumineers of her departure and received a commission from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to shape a stage musical based on the record.
Albums
Singles
