Jeremiah Caleb Fraites (born January 17, 1986) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the co-founder of

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing to ...

and is a songwriter for the band. He was born and raised in

Ramsey, New Jersey Ramsey is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's ...

Early life

Jeremiah Fraites' family is from

; his mother is the director of the Redeemer Christian Nursery School in Ramsey. Fraites graduated from

Ramsey High School Ramsey High School, established in 1909, is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Ramsey, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary ...

in 2004, and

William Paterson University William Paterson University, known as WP, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 an ...

in 2009. He became an Italian citizen in December 2021 after marrying an Italian woman and lives in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

The Lumineers

Beginnings

Fraites' brother Josh (1982-2001) was a friend of

Wesley Schultz Wesley Keith Schultz (born December 30, 1982) is an American musician. He is the guitarist and lead vocalist for the folk rock band The Lumineers. Life and career Schultz grew up in Ramsey, New Jersey,New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and began to play in small clubs and at open mic nights in an attempt to find success in the music business. They played several types of music, and occasionally included other musicians while they played under various names, including Free Beer and Wesley Jeremiah.

Move to Denver

In 2009, Fraites graduated from college. Unhappy at having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet while attempting to become full-time musicians, Fraites and Schultz decided to relocate to Denver, which had a lower cost of living. They eventually placed a

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

ad for a cello player, which led to

Neyla Pekarek Neyla Pekarek (; born September 4, 1986) is an American cellist, vocalist, and pianist. She was a member of the folk rock band The Lumineers from 2010 to 2018. Early life Pekarek was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She grew up in a househo ...

joining the band.

Recording contract

A self-financed tour in 2009-2010 led to the band being signed to a management contract. Their management company financed an EP. As they became better known, their self-financed tour and their EP led to The Lumineers being signed to a recording contract. The band subsequently released the albums ''

'' (2012) and ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' (2016).

Solo work

Fraites released his solo debut album ''Piano Piano'' on January 22, 2021, through Dualtone Records (US/Canada) and Mercury KX (World). The album is a collection of piano-centric instrumental songs that he had been working on for over a decade. It was met with critical acclaim from NPR's ''Weekend Edition'', ''Denver Post'', NPR Music's ''All Songs Considered,'' ''American Songwriter'', and ''Earmilk'' among others. Fraites partnered with the meditation app Calm for the release of two exclusive tracks titled "Felt" and "Pluck." He also partnered with the British music technology company

Spitfire Audio Spitfire Audio is an English technology company based in London that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production. The company was founded in 2007 by professional composers Christian Henson and Paul Thomson. Products ...

for their Originals series on a program called "Firewood Piano." The program is based on his eccentric upright piano, nicknamed "Firewood," on which he used to record several songs for his solo debut album.

Songwriting credits

References

Sources

Newspapers

Magazines

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Internet

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraites, Jeremiah Living people 1986 births People from Ramsey, New Jersey American folk rock musicians Ramsey High School (New Jersey) alumni Songwriters from New Jersey William Paterson University alumni The Lumineers members Musicians from Bergen County, New Jersey