It’s safe to say a music-loving town like Austin’s familiar with Bon Iver, the folk-tinged indie band fronted by Justin Vernon. But that might not be the case for the public at large.
Bon Iver has made numerous stops in Austin: at South by Southwest, the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and most recently, a performance at the Long Center. (KUT is a fan as well.)
Nationally, Vernon’s stature has grown since appearing on Kanye West’s platinum-selling “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, and Bon Iver’s self-titled 2011 album was named album of the year by numerous critics, including music-review site Pitchfork.
But for many, Vernon’s Grammy win for “Best New Artist” last night was the first many had heard of him. And moments after his acceptance speech, the confusion took to Twitter, with hilarious results.
Bon Iver (an intentionally-botched take on French phrase bon hiver, which means "have a good winter") was misheard around the world as Bonny Bear. Music website Brooklyn Vegan compiles some choice quotes.
This isn’t the first time indie heroes have a confused Grammy watchers – Album of the Year 2011 winners (and Austin favorites) Arcade Fire caused similar consternation on social media with their win last year.
