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Fleet Foxes

Who? Seattle folk rockers Fleet Foxes features Robin Pecknold (vocals/guitar), Skye Skjelset (guitar), Casey Wescott (keyboards), Nicholas Peterson (drums), and Craig Curran (bass). The earnest five-piece is in the process of sealing a deal with an unnamed label for the February 2008 release of their debut long-player, which is currently being produced by Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses, Modest Mouse). Playing Bumbershoot’s EMP | SFM Sky Church Stage Monday (Sept. 3) at 6:15 P.M.

What’s the Deal? For a band that often sees contemporary Seattle mainstay Ben Gibbard among their circle of musicians, Fleet Foxes draws from an older sound. Pecknold says they use a “no rules” attitude when making music, translating to songs that include organ, glockenspiel and pan flute. In “Meadowlarks,” they channel Neil Young with echoing vocals on top of simple acoustic guitar, which transitions into a chorus of harmonized humming. Forty years after the Summer of Love, they often pay tribute to their influences, with covers of Young and Fleetwood Mac. “You can’t reinvent how to write a song,” Pecknold tells SPIN.com. “I don’t listen to too much new music unless it adheres to tradition.”

Fun Fact: Lead singer Robin Pecknold was nicknamed ‘Showtunes’ by his older brother as a kid because he performed in community theatre, honing his singing chops. His defining role was as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Annie at age eight.

Stay tuned to SPIN.com’s coverage of Bumbershoot 2007, which goes down this weekend in Seattle, and watch a video interview with Fleet Foxes plus snippets of their Bumbershoot set!

Now Hear This:
Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal” DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
Fleet Foxes at MySpace

Talk: How sly is this ‘Fleet’ of ‘Foxes?’

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