Last night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Justin Vernon did something that’s very rare in this day and age, particularly for an artist that isn’t a Rolling Stones-level global superstar: held a press conference. It was to debut the new Bon Iver album, 22, A Million, the follow-up to 2011’s Bon Iver, which is out September 30 via Jagjaguwar.) Although the album was performed in full at the Eaux Claires festival last month, this was the first public airing of the recorded version. Writer Steve Marsh was on the scene.

The press conference was held at the restaurant in the unopened Oxbow Hotel, a property that Vernon has invested in, and promises to be “Eau Claire’s first boutique hotel.” Twenty-seven journalists with credentials ranging from the alternative paper and radio station in Minneapolis and newspapers from smaller Wisconsin towns to Uproxx and a German magazine gathered in the hotel bar along with various members of Bon Iver’s team.

The Bon Iver press conference. Photo by Graham Tolbert.

Eaux Claire’s poet laureate and Bon Iver’s “band uncle” Michael Perry stood up just before 8 p.m. to introduce the record. Following the album being played in full over the restaurant's speakers, Vernon came out in a hoodie and a Timberwolves cap and sat at a table with his laptop. He apologized for “blasting the music at us,” but added, “I know it’s a strange thing, but it’s actually kind of fun.” He then embarked on a Q&A that lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

Vernon said the sound of 22, A Million originated in a drum loop created by BJ Burton on a Roland drum machine. “I was feeling a lot of anxiety,” he said. “The beat got me up and out of my seat and made me want to break it down. It was finished right when we made it and we had to sit on it for three years.”