Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania

Lansdowne, Pennsylvania

Lansdowne is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States located southwest of downtown Philadelphia. It was named for the Marquess of Lansdowne. The borough grew quickly in the early part of the twentieth century when a railroad stop was established near the intersection of...

. He was signed by Matador Records

Matador Records

Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...

 as a solo artist in May 2009.

His music has been likened to that of Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

  His influences include Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

, John Fahey

John Fahey (musician)

John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 and FM Rock generally.
His first album for Matador Records

Matador Records

Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...

 is titled Childish Prodigy

Childish Prodigy

Childish Prodigy is Kurt Vile's third album and first official release for Matador Records. It was released on October 6, 2009.- Track listing :* All songs written by Kurt Vile except where noted# "Hunchback" – 4:50# "Dead Alive" – 3:47...

. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily, Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

 bassist and singer Kim Gordon

Kim Gordon

Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...

 was asked, "Your guilty pleasure right now?" Gordon replied, "Listening to Kurt Vile's latest CD, Childish Prodigy. Guilty because I listen to it too much..."

Vile released two previous solo albums, God Is Saying This To You and Constant Hitmaker, on Mexican Summer and Woodsist, respectively. He plays solo shows as well as shows with a backing band called The Violators.

Vile's "He's Alright" is featured during the credits of Eastbound & Down

Eastbound & Down

Eastbound & Down is an American comedy television series broadcast on HBO, starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a former professional baseball pitcher, who after an up and down career in the major leagues is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, as a...

 in the second season's finale. Vile was chosen by Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...

 to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties

All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)

All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....

 festival that they curated in May 2011.

Albums

• Constant Hitmaker (2008, Gulcher Records
  Gulcher Records
  Gulcher Records is an independent record label founded in Bloomington, Indiana by Bob Richert in the mid 1970s, as one of the earliest small independent labels and fanzines in the area...
  
  ; 2009, Woodsist Records)
• God Is Saying This To You (2009, Mexican Summer)
• Childish Prodigy
  Childish Prodigy
  Childish Prodigy is Kurt Vile's third album and first official release for Matador Records. It was released on October 6, 2009.- Track listing :* All songs written by Kurt Vile except where noted# "Hunchback" – 4:50# "Dead Alive" – 3:47...
  
  (2009, Matador Records)
• Smoke Ring For My Halo
  Smoke Ring For My Halo
  Smoke Ring For My Halo is Kurt Vile's fourth album and second official release for Matador Records. It was released on March 8, 2011.-Track listing:# "Baby's Arms" - 3:56# "Jesus Fever" - 3:46# "Puppet To The Man" - 3:52# "On Tour" - 5:26...
  
  (2011, Matador Records) US chart: #154

EPs

• Fall Demons 7" EP (2009, Skulltones)
• The Hunchback 12" EP (2009, Richie Records)
• Square Shells 12" EP (2010, Matador Records)
• So Outta Reach 12" EP, Digital EP (2011, Matador Records)

Singles

• He's Alright 7" single (2009, Matador Records)
• In My Time 7" single (2010, Matador Records)