Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold formed the indie folk group in high school, where he first started playing music with lead guitarist Skye Skjelset. ∙ Originally called Pineapple, the band was forced to rebrand as Fleet Foxes because another Seattle act, The Pineapples, had already claimed the fruit. ∙ “It was obvious [Pecknold] had talent coming out of his a**,” said producer Phil Ek (The Shins, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill), who helped the group record their 2006 self-titled EP. ∙ At 2008’s SXSW, Fleet Foxes wowed music critics, who compared them to The Beach Boys, Animal Collective, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. ∙ Their eponymous debut topped Pitchfork’s 50 Best Albums of 2008 list and made Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of the Decade. ∙ 2011’s Helplessness Blues, the only Fleet Foxes album to feature Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty), was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. ∙ Following a three-year hiatus, they returned in 2017 with Crack-Up, which made the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, and their 2020 LP Shore also cracked the same chart.