Coming off a breakup and the dissolution of his band DeYarmond Edison in late 2006, Justin Vernon retreated to his father's cabin in the middle of the Wisconsin woods. When he emerged, he had produced For Emma, Forever Ago, a haunting folk album that would make him—and his falsetto—one of indie music's biggest mainstream successes. Unwilling to let that define his identity, Vernon has kept Bon Iver's output sparse, instead collaborating with artists like Kanye West and James Blake while exploring falsetto-free blues-rock and hip-hop with The Shouting Matches and Jason Feathers.