Stranger Than Fiction

John Britt Daniel is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the Austin, Texas, rock band Spoon. Britt Daniel was born in Galveston, Texas, and... grew up in Temple, Texas, in a household of five children. His father, a neurologist, was an aficionado of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and a collector of classic guitars; Daniel has stated he had "a well-rounded musical upbringing." Daniel himself reportedly picked up the guitar in high school after his college-bound girlfriend ended their relationship. Britt Daniel's musical career began in 1988 when he formed his first band The Zygotes. In 1990 Daniel formed his second band, Skellington, while a student at the University of Texas. Skellington included Daniel, Cannon, Mac Stringfellow , and Mike Hurewitz . After self-releasing two cassette EPs and a cassette LP, the band dissolved in 1992. The following year, Daniel joined a three-piece rockabilly band named The Alien Beats with Brad Shenfeld. During a 1993 Alien Beats recording session, computer-chip designer and percussionist Jim Eno was brought in as a substitute drummer, but he was later added as the permanent drummer.
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Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. The city has around 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area, sometimes called "Chicagoland", is the third largest in the United States, with... an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, though a small portion also extends into DuPage County. Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world on the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city retains its status as an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements. In 2008, the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the 4th largest Gross Domestic Product in the world, ranking just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles.
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