If you subscribe to Paste magazine, you probably got a nice surprise a few weeks ago when your September issue arrived in the mail with local boy Justin Vernon’s slightly smiling face plopped smack dab between the “t” and the “e.” Vernon (who is Bon Iver) appears on the cover with three other musicians representing “the best of what’s next.” The magazine actually profiles 26 of their favorite new artists, but Bon Iver (who is Justin Vernon) and a few others get extra special treatment – eight full paragraphs and a full-page photo are devoted to Vernon. Judging by Paste’s bigass photo (clipped above), he somehow got sucked into a computer and must now battle for his life in a bizarre digital world called Tron. Graphic over-design aside, this is a pretty bright spot in the light show of  Vernon’s recent fame. Paste is kind of the mainstream music magazine dejour as far as cred endorsements are concerned.

Paste love-love-loves Bon Iver, as so many people, magazines, and blogs do. If he releases a nice poster, they cover it. If he gets his fanny pack stolen, they cover it. This new article recaps the now-legendary tale of how Vernon (all together now) “spent a secluded winter at his dad’s hunting shack where he wrote and recorded some songs, not intending to make an album, but ended up with For Emma, Forever Ago, and now he’s relatively more famous than Jesus.” It’s mostly a recap of Vernon’s musical career (sans Mount Vernon) with a tight review of the album tacked on. The article also says that he’s wearing a “T-shirt advertising a Colorado Brewery,” which we’re willing to forgive. Check out the online version of the issue (Bon Iver is on pages 34-35).

He's on tour right now, and the next big stop on the schedule is Late Night with Conan O’Brien, supposedly on Monday, Sept. 8. Keep checking for confirmation on that.

To sum up – way to go, Justin.