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While Bright Eyes remains signed to the " and " Take It Easy (Love Nothing) " took the top two spots of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales chart within two weeks of their simultaneous release. HISTORY Early years Bright Eyes started as a Side Project of Conor Oberst 's while he was the Frontman for the Indie Rock outfit Commander Venus , which featured Tim Kasher (who later went on to form the band Cursive ). Though the band remained his primary focus between the years 1995 and 1997, Oberst continued to write and record Acoustic Solo Material onto his father's Four-track Reel-to-reel in his parents' basement. Of the 70 songs reportedly recorded, two found their way onto the first official Bright Eyes release, an untitled 7" Split with the band Squad Car 96. By the time Commander Venus disbanded in 1997, Bright Eyes had become Oberst's main focus. In 1998, he released another 20 of the songs he had been stockpiling as the first official Bright Eyes album, '' A Collection Of Songs Written And Recorded 1995-1997 ''. With '' Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground '' in 2002, Bright Eyes became one of the year's most celebrated "new" artists, despite having been recording under that moniker for a few years. They received national attention, including in several notable pieces in the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Blender and Spin, many of which proclaimed Conor Oberst to be a significant new artist. The album was a commercial success and has sold over 250,000 copies, King of Indie Rock a breakthrough for the label and for all of the band's peers at that time. Recent years During the 2004 Election Season , Bright Eyes toured with Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M. on the MoveOn.org " Vote For Change " tour, further pushing Bright Eyes into the public eye. Oberst sang numerous duets with the likes of Springsteen and Neil Young . In early November 2004, two Bright Eyes singles, " Lua " and " Take It Easy (Love Nothing) ", reached the two top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales , a remarkable feat for a musician on an independent label. This was the first time this had happened on the list in seven years. '' and the electronic/computer sounding '' Digital Ash In A Digital Urn ''. An extensive world tour followed the release of those albums. Part one of the tour was in support of ''I'm Wide Awake'' and the second part was in support of ''Digital Ash''. In interviews, Oberst said the two-part tour was grueling and while they didn't regret it, they felt it took an enormous toll on the bands' health and well-being. By the end of January 2005, ''I'm Wide Awake'' was #10 on the '' Billboard '' charts while ''Digital Ash'' was #15. On May 2 , 2005 Bright Eyes appeared on '' The Tonight Show With Jay Leno '' and performed the Protest Song " When The President Talks To God ". A 7" vinyl single of the song was sold at concerts soon after. Bright Eyes received a pop-culture honor on May 20 , 2006 in being mentioned in an episode of '' Saturday Night Live '', hosted by Kevin Spacey . The show was making fun of Neil Young 's not-so-subtle dislike of George W. Bush , specifically on his album Living With War . Young was joined by Dixie Chicks and "indie sensation Bright Eyes," both of whom have been very public in their criticism of Bush. Conor Oberst was played by Andy Samberg and Neil Young was played by Spacey. However, on '' was released. On March 8 , 2007 , Oberst appeared on National Public Radio 's '' All Songs Considered '', playing a selection of tracks in his collection, as well as several from Four Winds. Present Bright Eyes released a studio album entitled '' Cassadaga '' on April 10 , 2007 in the U.S. and April 9 , 2007 in the UK, with an EP entitled '' Four Winds '' on March 6 , 2007 . The track "Endless Entertainment" circulated over the internet from the new official site, ThisIsBrightEyes.com . and M. Ward .]] On May 19 , 2007 , at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennesee, Conor Oberst performed a new song with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings entitled "Man Named Truth", during an encore. The song he said, was finished in the dressing room that night. During a 7-night stint at on May 25 ; Ben Kweller on May 26 ; Jenny Lewis and John Rice on May 28 ; Norah Jones , Little Willie and Derrick E on May 29 ; Nick Zinner , Maria Taylor and Ben Gibbard on May 30 , Steve Earle on May 31 , and finally Ron Sexsmith and Britt Daniel on June 1 . On June 4 , 2007 , they performed "Hot Knives" on The Late Show With David Letterman . The song "We Are Nowhere and It's Now" appears in the movie "Knocked Up". A double-single for "Hot Knives" and "If the Brakeman Turns My Way" was released July 9th. Bright Eyes was also in Q magazine's top ten bands to watch for, coming in at number 6. The band name "Bright Eyes" comes from the movie Planet of The Apes, where the human was named "Bright Eyes" by the apes. ['' Citation Needed '' BAND Current members Live band members as of March 31, 2007.
However, the only official "permanent" members are Oberst, Mogis, and Walcott. Past members and contributors Lou Reed , Kelsey Guerra , Shane Aspegren , Clark Baechle , Todd Baechle-Fink , Jeremy Barnes , Kevin Barnes , Samir Barris , Rob Bass , Karen Becker , Jake Bellows , Eric Bemberger , Z Berg , Dan Bitney , Jason Boesel , Chris Brooks , Donna Carnes , Paul Chambers , Gretta Cohn , Shawn Cole , Jonathan Crawford , Britt Daniel , Stefanie Drootin , Sabrina Duim , Julee Dunekacke , Sherri DuPree , Stacy DuPree , Aaron Druery , Jim Eno , Orenda Fink , Margret Fish , Jason Flatowicz , Dan Fliegel , Matt Focht , Sean Foley , Emmylou Harris , Jesse Harris , Rob Hawkins , Kyle Hugo , John Irabagon , Jim James , Neely Jenkins , Simon Joyner , Tim Kasher , Thomas Kluge , Joe Knapp , Tiffany Kowalski , Ben Kweller , Jiha Lee , Andy LeMaster , Hassan Lemtouni , Andy Leverett , Clay Leverett , Jenny Lewis , Roger Lewis , Tim Luntzel , Matt Maginn , Daniel McCarthy , John McIntire , Alex McManus , Steve Micek , A.J. Mogis , Stella Mogis , David Moyer , Katie Muth , Robb Nansel , Matt Oberst , Anton Patzner , Steve Pedersen , Pete Prohaska , David Rawlings , Gruff Rhys , Kimberly Salistean , Clint Schnase , Casey Scott , Blake Sennett , Daniel Stanley , Ted Stevens , Mike Sweeney , Jeff Tafolla , Jimmy Tamborello , Maria Taylor , Brian Walsh , M. Ward , Sarah Wass , Janet Weiss , Gillian Welch , Clint Wheeler , Nick White , Rachael Yamagata , Michael Zerang , Nick Zinner SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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