Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst, born in Omaha in 1980, has never been shy about spreading himself around. He's best known as the voice and pen behind Bright Eyes, but the list of other bands runs long: Desaparecidos, the Faint back when they were still called Norman Bailer, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Monsters of Folk, Better Oblivion Community Center and his own Mystic Valley Band. He plays guitar, bass, piano, keyboards and drums, and has recorded for Saddle Creek, Team Love, Merge and Nonesuch among others.

The solo records are where the confessional streak runs most freely. The self-titled Conor Oberst, with "Sausalito" on it, came in 2008, the same year a major music magazine named him the best songwriter of the year, and it leaned into loose, rootsy folk-rock. Upside Down Mountain in 2014 dressed "Hundreds of Ways" and "Time Forgot" in brighter, warmer arrangements, all shimmer and sway.

Then came Ruminations in 2016, stripped down to almost nothing, with "Tachycardia" as its jittery, heart-on-the-table centerpiece. Whatever the setting, the trembling voice and the wordy, wounded songwriting stay the same, and that's the whole appeal.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.