Alec Ounsworth

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Alec Ounsworth

| image = AlecOunsworthCYHSY.jpg

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|12|1}}

| origin = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

| associated_acts = Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Flashy Python

}}

Alec Ounsworth (born December 1, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontman of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. He is also a member of The Pelican Picnic and Flashy Python. His first solo album, Mo Beauty was released October 20, 2009, on Anti- Records.

History

Ounsworth was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Mount Airy, Philadelphia.{{Cite news |title=The Next Big Band? |publisher=WPVI-TV |date=April 4, 2006 |url=http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/entertainment&id=4052219 |accessdate=May 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629024932/http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Fentertainment&id=4052219 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }} Around his mid-teens, he started writing and recording music — a hobby that would stay near to him throughout his time as a student at Connecticut College.{{Cite news |title=Alec Ounsworth: Clap Your Hands, Go Solo |publisher=NPR |date=January 13, 2010 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122497820 |accessdate=May 5, 2010}} In college, he shared a dorm room with Lee Sargent during their first year. They would both graduate in 2000.{{Cite news |title=Living on Rock 'N' Roll |work=Connecticut College Magazine |year=2007 |url=http://aspen.conncoll.edu/camelweb/index.cfm?fuseaction=publications&circuit=cconline&function=view&uid=28&id=857635659 |accessdate=May 5, 2010}}

Sargent, who had a special interest in Ounsworth's songs, contacted him in 2004 via Friendster about starting a band. After several contacts, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was formed, and the band started playing live shows and recording demos.

Prior to the success of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Ounsworth released several home demos of his work onto the internet, many of them being early versions of songs that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah would record. All ties between him and the files have been severed, as both flashypython.com and his MySpace page have been deleted. The files are still distributed among fans over the Internet.{{Cite news|last=Lanham |first=Tom |title=Solitary Thunder: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alex Ounsworth Walks Alone |work=Paste |date=December 6, 2006 |url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/3625/feature/music/solitary_thunder |accessdate=May 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616053023/http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/3625/feature/music/solitary_thunder |archivedate=June 16, 2011 }}

Musical equipment

Ounsworth's collection of guitars includes two Fender Telecasters, a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson Hummingbird, and a Gibson SG. He also has at least four acoustic guitars, two of which are made by Gibson. On April 4, 2007, he sported a Gibson Flying V guitar on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

He employs the Vox AC30 amp to produce the sound he desires. On his tours with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, he has played through a 4x10 Fender Hot Rod DeVille.

Personal life

On January 12, 2007, Ounsworth married Emily Jean Stock, who is the inspiration behind the song of the same name on the album Some Loud Thunder. In 2008, they had a daughter, Rosemary. In 2020, Ounsworth and Emily Jean Stock divorced.{{Cite news |title=Politics and Divorce Play a Part in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's New Album, 'New Fragility' |publisher=American Songwriter |date=January 27, 2021 |url=https://americansongwriter.com/politics-and-divorce-play-a-part-in-clap-your-hands-say-yeahs-new-album-new-fragility/}}