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Evan Taubenfeld

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Evan Taubenfeld
Taubenfeld in 2003
Taubenfeld in 2003
Background information
Birth nameEvan David Taubenfeld
Born (1983-06-27) June 27, 1983 (age 41)[citation needed]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
GenresPop punk,[1] pop rock, pop
Occupation(s)Singer, musician, producer, executive music director
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active2002–present
LabelsSire/Warner Bros.

Evan David Taubenfeld (born June 27, 1983) is an American singer and musician, best known for being Avril Lavigne's lead guitarist, music director and frequent collaborator. Taubenfeld's debut album, Welcome to the Blacklist Club, was released in 2010.

Early life

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Taubenfeld was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Mark and Ami Taubenfeld, who ran a catering business. He has two siblings, a younger brother named Drew (b. 1984), who is a multi-instrumentalist and musical director for Kacey Musgraves, and a younger sister, Annie (b. 1990). He was raised Jewish.[2] Taubenfeld graduated from McDonogh School in 2001.[3]

Taubenfeld had an early interest in music and took an interest at the piano at home as a toddler. He received a small drum kit as a young child, continuing on a full-size drum kit several years later. While in seventh grade, he joined the band The Suburbanites on drums. At the age of 15, he taught himself guitar by learning to play "Come As You Are" by Nirvana.[citation needed] After 3 years, he founded Spinfire with his friend Matt Halpern in which he sang and played guitar. They performed at festivals and shows in the Baltimore area, and wrote and produced songs such as "Feeling Beautiful", "Lettin' It Be", and "Waiting."

Career

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With Avril Lavigne

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Taubenfeld considered studying at Berklee College of Music, but chose to market his band with major labels instead. When his band members chose to go to college instead, Taubenfeld recorded a demo of his own music, among others sending it to Arista Records A&R vice president Josh Sarubin, who he made his acquaintance with during his time in Spinfire. Taubenfeld received a phone call from Sarubin, who invited him to audition in New York City for the band of a new talent he just signed, a young Canadian named Avril Lavigne. He joined this band in 2002 when her debut album Let Go had already been recorded.[4] For Lavigne's sophomore album Under My Skin, Taubenfeld contributed to the music and was credited for the music on "Don't Tell Me", "Take Me Away", and "Freak Out", the latter of which he shared the credits with drummer Matt Brann. In addition to being her lead guitarist, he took up music directing and became a close friend of Lavigne. He left the band in September 2004, when he was signed as a staff writer with EMI Music Publishing, after which he got his own recording contract with Sire/Warner Bros. Records in October 2004.[5]

Taubenfeld would continue to collaborate with Lavigne for several more years. He co-wrote four songs with Lavigne on her 2007 album The Best Damn Thing, including the hit single "Hot". In 2010, he performed "Complicated" and "Girlfriend" acoustically with Lavigne and her band member, Jim McGorman.[6] On Goodbye Lullaby from 2011, he co-wrote three songs, performed vocals on the bridge of "Push", along with playing in several instruments, and doing engineering and producing work on the album.[7] He subsequently was the opening act for Lavigne on the North American Leg her 2011 Black Star World Tour.

Solo career and other projects

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In 2003, while still playing in Lavigne's band, Taubenfeld formed the band Ditch Ruxton, with whom he performed one show. The group disbanded within the year.

In 2008, Taubenfeld produced two tracks for rapper Tyga's debut album No Introduction, "Press 7" and another song "First Timers" which he sang the Chorus on. He also produced for The Pack and Oreskaband.

For his solo material, Taubenfeld set up his own band, named The Black List Club. His first solo single, "Boy Meets Girl", was released in March 2009. It was co-written with among others indie pop artists Adam Richman and Bleu. To promote the single, Taubenfeld toured with Metro Station, Mitchel Musso and Mayday Parade in July 2009. Taubenfeld's Christmas single, "Merry Swiftmas (Even Though I Celebrate Chanukah)" debuted in late 2009 at #59 on the Hot Country Songs chart, in which he besung Taylor Swift and Christmas years before Swift trademarked the term "Swiftmas".[8] It would take until May 2010 until his album Welcome to the Blacklist Club was released. He has since continued to record and release songs, but not in album format.

Taubenfeld was the executive musical director for the short-lived MTV show Kaya, a scripted drama about a girl who gets signed to a major label with her band. He among others co-wrote, recorded and produced the soundtrack for the series. He also had a role on the Web series Private as Blake Pearson, and produced for the MTV series Pageant Place.

In 2012, Taubenfeld co-wrote the song "Shine" for The Used album Vulnerable. That same year, he produced for the Japanese band Stereopony, and collaborated with them on the song "Just Rock With Me", for which the collective was dubbed "Evanpony" in public releases of the song.

Taubenfeld presently runs Crush Music Publishing, a music publishing joint venture between Songs Publishing and Crush Management.

Discography

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Studio albums

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Title Album details Peak positions
US Heat
[9]
Welcome to the Blacklist Club 41

Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US Country
[10]
"Boy Meets Girl"[11] 2009 — Welcome to the Blacklist Club
"Merry Swiftmas (Even Though I Celebrate Chanukah)" 59 non-album song
"Pumpkin Pie" 2010 — Welcome to the Blacklist Club
"Best Years of Our Lives" (featuring Avril Lavigne) 2011 – non-album song
"Claire" 2013 — non-album song
"Still in Love Somehow" — non-album song

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 Avril Lavigne: My World Himself Lead Guitarist / Musical Director
2015 Flipped (a.k.a. Blood Rush) Scotty Dee Actor

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 KAYA Himself Executive Musical Director
2009 Private Blake Pearson Missing in episodes 1 and 2

References

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  1. ^ "Record Reviews, Streaming Songs, Genres & Bands". AllMusic. February 8, 2000. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  2. ^ Katz, William A. (2006). Magazines for Libraries: For the General Reader and School, Junior College, College, University and Public Libraries. ISBN 978-1-60030-096-7.
  3. ^ "Baltimore native has unlikely hit with Taylor Swift parody, 'Merry Swiftmas' – Baltimore Sun". Articles.baltimoresun.com. December 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  4. ^ Pak, SuChin; D'Angelo, Joe. "Avril Lavigne: The Real Deal". MTV. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  5. ^ Leahey, Andrew. "Biography: Evan Taubenfeld". AMG. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  6. ^ "La cifra reunida en el Teletón asegura más centros de ayuda". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). December 7, 2009. Archived from the original on April 21, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  7. ^ Michaels, Sean (July 29, 2009). "Avril Lavigne goes acoustic on new album". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  8. ^ "Taylor Swift attempts to trademark 'Swiftmas', '1989', 'and I'll write your name' and title of unpublished book". Independent.co.uk. December 10, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "Evan Taubenfeld Album & Song Chart History – Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  10. ^ Morris, Edward (December 19, 2009). "Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum Still Reside in Their Chart Penthouses". Country Music Television. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  11. ^ About to pop Evan Taubenfeld Popeater
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