Rachael Yamagata

This is the 111th post in our Musician of the Day series.



Rachael Yamagata was born in 1977 in Virginia. Her childhood was spent divided between spending time with both of her divorced parents. She eventually went on to attend Northwestern and Vassar.

She started her music career as the the vocalist for the funk-fusion band Bumpus and she spent six years writing and recording songs with the band and touring all over the country. In 2001, Rachael decided to split with the band as she had written a number of songs that did not fit with the band's style and she wanted to use them to start a solo career.

In 2002 she released a self-titled EP and in 2004 she followed it up with a full-length album entitled Happenstance. The album received positive reviews and it was not long before they began to make their way into television and movies. Shows like the O.C., How I Met Your Mother, One Tree Hill, The L Word, Grey's Anatomy and others have featured her music. She has also had her music showcased in movies including Definitely, Maybe, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Hotel for Dogs.

In May of 2008 she released another EP entitled Loose Ends as a precursor to her delayed second album. The album Elephants...Teeth Sinking into Heart was released in October of 2008.

She has already begun previewing songs on her website in anticipation of her next album.

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