She and Him

• Genre: Indie/Alternative
• Hometown: Portland
• She and Him Website

About

Let's start with She: music fans might remember Zooey Deschanel for her deadpan supporting role as Patrick Fugitt's sister in rock journalism flick Almost Famous, but her career in music began with musical theater as a teen. She performed on a smattering of film soundtracks and founded cabaret act If All the Stars Had Pretty Babies. As for Him, Portland-based singer and songwriter M. Ward needs little introduction to indie fans; after issuing 2001's End of Amnesia, his sandy vocals and intimate songwriting have been widely embraced. The two first teamed up to cover Linda and Richard Thompson's triumphant "When I Get to the Border" for the soundtrack to the 2007 film The Go-Getter, in which Deschanel played a lead role. The chemistry was right, and they went to work on a collaborative debut, Volume 1, which was written and sang mostly by Deschanel and produced by Ward. It appeared in March, 2008, on Ward's label, Merge.

- Nate Cavalieri