Rachael Yamagata

Yamagata became the vocalist for the Chicago funk-fusion band Bumpus, spending six years writing and recording three albums with the band and touring the country. In 2001, after having written a number of songs that did not fit with the funk style of the band, Yamagata decided to take the songs and launch a solo career. In September 2002, she landed a two-record deal with Arista's Private Music and her self-titled EP produced by Malcolm Burn, Rachael Yamagata EP was released in October.

Solo career

Her first full-length album, Happenstance, followed in June 2004. It received generally positive reviews from critics. It was produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Ben Folds Five) at Compass Point Studios. "I Want You" features several members of prominent American Klezmer group The Klezmatics. Videos were made for the first and second singles "Worn Me Down" and "1963".

Her songs have featured on several TV shows, including The L Word, Charmed, How I Met Your Mother, ER , Nip/Tuck, Men in Trees, Alias, One Tree Hill, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy and The O.C., to which she made a guest performance in season 2. Yamagata also contributed a song to Mandy Moore's 2007 album, Wild Hope. She also toured with Moore, opening many of her shows around the country.

On May 22, 2008, a new banner was added to her site indicating the digital release of a new EP, Loose Ends, with three new songs, serving as a preview for the now delayed release of her second full-length album.

In early 2008, her site featured a "teaser video" for the new album. The album was finally released on October 7, 2008. Yamagata's second studio album is called Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart. This album is much darker than its predecessor and deals more with heartache. It was originally slated for release in the late-summer of 2007.

On October 9, 2008, a two-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring the songs "Faster" and "Sunday Afternoon".

On April 2, 2009, she performed her single "Elephants" on One Life to Live in the fictional Capricorn Cafe.

She previewed the song "Jonah" on October 10, 2009 on her official website. Later, on November 2, Yamagata premiered the song "He Loves You Deep Inside". Both songs were recorded for Elephants...Teeth Sinking into Heart but were not included with the original release. "Jonah" was included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album while "He Loves You Deep Inside" was only made available for online stream.

She made an appearance in Jason Mraz's second album, Mr. A–Z, singing a song with him called "Did You Get My Message?". She also sings on "Fireflies" and "The Believer" on Rhett Miller's solo CD The Believer; on Toots & the Maytals True Love; "Barfly" on Ray Lamontagne's Till the Sun Turns Black; and "Let it Ride", "Sweet Illusions", "Cold Roses", and "Friends", on Ryan Adams' Cold Roses. She sings backup on six tracks on the Bright Eyes' album Cassadaga. She co-wrote "Kaleidoscope" with Jill Cunniff, formerly of Luscious Jackson, for Cunniff's solo album City Beach and also plays keyboards and second vocals. Yamagata also performs with an ensemble cast on the 30 Rock episode "Kidney Now!" The soundtrack for the film Dear John features the song "You Take My Troubles Away," Yamagata's duet with Dan Wilson.