VIDEO: Taylor Swift shocks Cincinnati with 3 surprise songs
Taylor Swift stunned Cincinnati on Saturday with 3 surprise songs, including one with Cincy native Aaron Dessner.
Jackie Borchardt, Cincinnati Enquirer
A Cincinnati-bred band is among the greatest living songwriters in America, according to a new list.
New York Times Magazine released a list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters in April. It then followed that effort by asking its readers for their thoughts on who should have been honored. After its poll brought in over 25,000 ballots and about 12,000 unique choices, the magazine put together it’s readers’ top 100 Greatest Living American Songwriters.
And The National made the list.
The band, consisting of Cincinnati natives Matt Berninger, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf, ranked No. 85 on the readers’ choice ranking, right behind Billie Joe Armstrong and ahead of Lauryn Hill, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Olivia Rodrigo and others.
“This entry collects votes for all members of the band – each of whom makes music outside of it,” New York Times Magazine wrote. “Were some of the 73 votes for Aaron Dessner based on his writing with Taylor Swift? Probably. But hey, some of the 129 votes for Matt Berninger could be for EL VY, his duo with Brent Knopf.”
Aaron Dessner co-wrote and co-produced Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” and “Evermore” albums, winning a Grammy for Album of the Year with “Folklore.” He has since co-produced multiple Swift albums, including “Midnights” and “The Tortured Poets Department.” Bryce Dessner additionally worked on her album “Folklore,” and she featured the band in the song “Coney Island” on her album “Evermore.”
“Historically, I don’t know that there’s that many artists who’ve sort of reached that level that she has,” Bryce Dessner told The Enquirer in 2023. “It’s an honor to know her and to witness that. To have her play any role in our music is amazing.”
Scott Devendorf met Berninger in college at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, and the two played in a band together called Nancy. They graduated in 1996, but formed The National with Bryan Devendorf and the Dessners in Brooklyn, New York, a few years later in 1999.
“I really do think just the fact that all five of us are from Cincinnati – there is a bond,” Berninger told The Enquirer in 2023.
“Cincinnati has a great music scene,” Bryce Dessner said. “We had different experiences, we’re all from different parts of town. We had bands together and separately. There was music around, and it was accessible because it’s not a huge city. It’s a small city, so we were able to go see things. And for me personally, the orchestra, the ballet, the College-Conservatory of Music, all of that was important to me growing up as well. I think the music runs deep in Cincinnati.”
The band has received three Grammy nominations, and its album “Sleep Well Beast” won a Grammy in 2017 for Best Alternative Music Album. It has 10 studio albums, last releasing two of them in 2023, “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” and “Laugh Track.”
