Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes performing in Copenhagen, 2008.
Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Indie folk, baroque pop, folk rock
Years active	2006-present
Labels	Sub Pop (U.S.) Bella Union (UK) Arts & Crafts México
Associated acts	Crystal Skulls Pedro the Lion White Antelope Poor Moon Father John Misty The Blood Brothers Past Lives
Website	FleetFoxes.com
Members
Robin Pecknold Skyler Skjelset Casey Wescott Christian Wargo Morgan Henderson
Past members
J. Tillman Nick Peterson Craig Curran Trevor Alderfer Bryn Lumsden

Fleet Foxes are an indie folk band that formed in Seattle, Washington.^[1] They are signed to the Sub Pop and Bella Union record labels. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP, Sun Giant, and their debut full length album Fleet Foxes. Both Sun Giant and their eponymous debut album received much critical praise and reviewers often noted their use of refined lyrics and vocal harmonies. Their second studio album, Helplessness Blues was released on May 3, 2011.

History[link]

Formation and early years[link]

Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset both attended Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, and soon became close friends. Pecknold and Skjelset bonded over a mutual appreciation of Bob Dylan and Neil Young and began making music together.^[2] Their parents influenced their musical tastes early on—Skjelset's mother Peggi was a keen listener of both Bob Dylan and Hank Williams while Pecknold's father Greg was a member of The Fathoms, a local 1960s soul group.^[3] The two were interested in the achievements of Dylan and Brian Wilson and realized the importance of practicing music from a young age.

Originally going by the name "Pineapple," a name clash with another local band prompted a change and Pecknold decided upon "Fleet Foxes," suggesting that it was "evocative of some weird English activity like fox hunting."^[3] Pecknold took up the role of principal songwriter, both singing and playing guitar, while Skjelset played lead guitar.^[4] Pecknold's late-sixties pop style caught the attention of Seattle producer Phil Ek and he helped them record their first demo in 2006, the self-released Fleet Foxes EP.^[5] Ek was impressed with the band's songwriting, and upon hearing Pecknold for the first time, noted "it was obvious he had talent coming out of his ass."^[2] By late 2006 the Seattle press began to take notice of the band; Tom Scanlon of the Seattle Times stated that he was impressed with the band's lyrics and musical maturity.^[5]

With growing popularity on the local circuit, the band set about making their first album in early 2007, spending time in the studio with producer Ek in addition to recording material at home. However, funds for recording were tight, so the band members cobbled together what funds they had, which limited the time they had in the studio, and so the majority of the tracks were recorded in various band members' apartments, other spaces, or the basement of Pecknold's parents' house.^[2]

Rise to prominence[link]

Fleet Foxes were becoming increasingly popular and by late 2007 they had attracted over a quarter of a million song plays over two months on their Myspace site.^[6] Although the band had not released any of their recordings, they benefited from word of mouth exposure and their success soon translated into a record deal, signing with Warner Music subsidiary record label Sub Pop on January 18, 2008.^[6] According to Sub Pop A&R Sue Busch, at the time of signing the band was still a relatively primitive set-up, being without manager or legal representation. Robin's sister Aja Pecknold then assumed the role of band manager.^[7] The band's frontman, Robin Pecknold attributes much of their success and popularity to illegal file sharing.^[8]

The band completed the recording of their second EP, Sun Giant, at Bear Creek Studio, around the same time in preparation for upcoming tours.^[9] Fleet Foxes began their spring tour with fellow Northwest band Blitzen Trapper on February 28, 2008.^[10] The band's performances, first at the SXSW festival in March 2008, and then the Sasquatch! festival in May 2008, moved the band into the public consciousness, notably attracting attention from the European press for the first time.^[3]

Sun Giant was released internationally on April 8, 2008 and the group's brand of folk, rock and pop, marked by their use of vocal harmonies, was well received by the press.^[11] Despite the warm critical reception, the group stated that the EP did not represent their full ambitions, serving merely as a CD to sell while on tour.^[12] In May 2008 the band chose to extend their North American and European tour until September in support of their forthcoming album. Additionally, the band grew in number as songwriters Christian Wargo and J. Tillman joined Fleet Foxes on guitars and drums respectively.^[13] Their debut full length album Fleet Foxes was released shortly afterwards on June 3, 2008.^[14] The album achieved similar critical success as the previous EP had. Fleet Foxes received four out of five stars from Rolling Stone, who compared it to the likes of the Beach Boys, Animal Collective, and Crosby, Stills & Nash,^[15] and a 9.0 out of 10 in a review by Pitchfork Media, sharing the website's album of the year rank with the Sun Giant EP.^[16] The Guardian was particularly complimentary, awarding the album five stars and declaring it "a landmark in American music—an instant classic."^[17] On June 24, 2008, Fleet Foxes went to #1 on the CMJ Radio 200 Chart.^[18] The album achieved an average rating of 87/100 from 30 critic reviews on aggregator website Metacritic.^[19]

While the group enjoyed moderate success in the United States, Fleet Foxes was better received in Europe, selling over 200,000 copies in the first five months following its release.^[20] The sales were matched with critical plaudits and their debut album won Uncut's first ever Music Award 2008 prize.^[21] Uncut editor Allan Jones said the album "showed impeccable musicianship, and although you could trace its antecedents, it sounded totally unique. Fleet Foxes was just a glorious debut." The band sold out music venues for their tours of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, reaffirming their growing popularity.^[20][22]

At the end of 2008, Fleet Foxes was rated album of the year by Billboard's Critic's Choice and in Metacritic's end of year best album round-up it appeared in 17 lists, topping six of them. Furthermore, it had sold over 408,000 copies in North America and over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom, making it the first gold certificate record for UK label Bella Union.^[23] Their growing profile enabled the band to make televised appearances, playing on Vincent Moon's "La Blogotheque" in December 2008 and on Saturday Night Live the following January.^[24] In 2009, they toured in Europe to favorable reviews; Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant said their show in Paradiso induced goosebumps.^[25] Throughout 2008-9 the band played globally ending the tour in September with a final European leg. Fleet Foxes played at the Bridge School Benefit curated by Neil Young on October 24 and 25, 2009 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. This is the second time they supported Young after a summer bill in Hyde Park, London. Fleet Foxes returned to the Way Out West Festival (at which they first performed in 2008) in Gothenburg on August 12, 2011.^[26] They played at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur on September 11, 2011.^[27] The band were chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England.^[28]

Second album[link]

Members[link]

• Robin Pecknold - lead vocals, guitar
• Skyler Skjelset - lead guitar, mandolin
• Christian Wargo - bass guitar, vocals
• Casey Wescott - keyboards, mandolin, vocals
• Morgan Henderson - multi-instrumentalist, arrangements

Former[link]

• Joshua Tillman - drums, vocals, arrangements (2008-2012)
• Nicholas Peterson - drums, percussion, vocals, arrangements (2006-2008)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official band website

Jools Holland
Holland at the British Academy Television Awards 2009
Background information
Birth name	Julian Miles Holland
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 54) Blackheath, London, England
Genres	Boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, R&B
Occupations	Musician, composer, television presenter, bandleader
Instruments	Piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	Squeeze Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Website	Official site

Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze (1974-1980 & 1985-1990) and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Magazine and Bono.

Holland is a published author and appears on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. He currently hosts Later... with Jools Holland, a music-based show aired on BBC2, on which his annual show Hootenanny, is based.^[1]

Life and career[link]

His great grandfather came from Ireland.^[2]

Holland played as a session musician before finding fame, and his first studio session was with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs in 1976 on their track "F*ck Off."^[3]

Holland was a founding member of the British pop band Squeeze, formed in March 1974, in which he played keyboards until 1981 and helped the band to achieve millions of record sales, before pursuing his solo career.^[3]

Holland began issuing solo records in 1978, his first EP being Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved notoriety by inadvertently using the phrase "groovy fuckers" in a live, early evening TV trailer for the show, causing it to be suspended for six weeks.^[4] He referred to this in his sitcom "The Groovy Fellers" with Rowland Rivron.

Holland at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, 22 January 2005

In 1983 Holland played an extended piano solo on The The's re-recording of "Uncertain Smile" for the album Soul Mining. In 1985, Squeeze (which had continued in Holland's absence through to 1982) unexpectedly regrouped including Jools Holland as their keyboard player. Holland remained in the band until 1990, at which point, he again departed Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career as a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.^[3]

Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[5] Since 1992 he has presented the music program Later... with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny.

In 1996, Holland signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records,^[3] and his records are now marketed through Rhino Records.

Holland has a touring band, The Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, which often includes singers Sam Brown and Ruby Turner. In January 2005 Holland and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Cardiff.

Personal[link]

Holland lives in the Westcombe Park area of Blackheath in South East London, where he had his studio, Helicon Mountain, built to his design, inspired by Portmeirion, the setting for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner.^[6] Holland owns costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. In 1987, Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terence Alexander and Hugh Laurie.^[6] Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland performed a number towards the end of the program. His younger brother, Christopher, also plays organ in the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as being a singer-songwriter.

Holland was an interviewer for The Beatles Anthology TV project, and appeared in the 1997 film Spiceworld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. In September 2006 Holland was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.^[7] He is also known for his charity work: in June 2006 he performed in Southend for HIV/AIDS charity Mildmay,^[8] and in early 2007 he performed at Wells and Rochester Cathedrals to raise money for maintaining cathedral buildings.^[9] He is also patron of the Drake Music Project^[10] and has raised many thousands of pounds for the charity.

Holland was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.^[11]

On 29 August 2005 Holland married Christabel McEwen, his girlfriend of 15 years (between 1983 and 1995 she had been married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, before they divorced). The wedding, at St James's Church, Cooling near Rochester, was attended by many celebrities, including Ringo Starr, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Noel Gallagher, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.^[12]

Holland is also a patron for The Milton Rooms, an Arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Kathy Burke.^[13]

Writing[link]

His 2007 biography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts was BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" in the week beginning 8 October 2007 and was read by Holland. He is the author or joint author of four other books.

Discography[link]

Albums that have charted and gained Certifications[link]

Releases[link]

• 1978 "Boogie Woogie '78" (EP)
• 1981 Jools Holland and His Millionaires
• 1984 Jools Holland Meets Rock 'A' Boogie Billy (U.S. release only)
• 1990 World Of His Own
• 1991 The Full Complement
• 1992 "Together Again" (single with Sam Brown)
• 1992 The A-Z Geographer's Guide To The Piano
• 1994 Solo Piano
• 1994 Live Performance
• 1996 " Jazz & Rock & Roll
• 1997 Lift The Lid
• 1998 Best Of
• 1999 Sunset Over London
• 2000 Hop The Wag
• 2001 Small World Big Band
• 2002 SWBB Volume Two: More Friends
• 2003 Jack O The Green (SWBB Friends 3)
• 2004 Tom Jones & Jools Holland
• 2005 Beatroute
• 2005 Swinging the Blues, Dancing the Ska
• 2006 Moving Out To The Country
• 2007 Best of Friends
• 2008 The Collection
• 2008 The Informer (With Ruby Turner)
• 2008 "The Informer" (single with Ruby Turner)
• 2009 "I Went By" (single with Louise Marshall)
• 2010 Rockinghorse

Film and television[link]

• 1981 Urgh! A Music War
• 1982 Police: Around the World
• 1982 - 1987 The Tube (Host for 121 editions)
• 1983 Rebellious Jukebox: Compere
• 1984 The Young Ones: Punk (Episode entitled "Summer Holiday")
• 1985 Walking To New Orleans (Jools Holland in New Orleans)
• 1987 Eat the Rich: Sun Reporter
• 1987 Filthy Rich & Catflap: Strip Show Pianist (Episode #1.3)
• 1987 The Laughing Prisoner: No. 7
• 1987 French and Saunders (Episode 1.5)
• 1988 Sunday Night: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 Juke Box Jury: Host (unknown episodes)
• 1989 The Groovy Fellers Himself, 6 episodes
• 1991 Mr Roadrunner (Jools Holland in Memphis)
• 1994 There's No Business: Pianist
• 1994 - 1995 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
• 1995 The Beatles Anthology
• 1997 Spice World: Musical Director
• 1997 Name That Tune: Host and Pianist
• 2003 Jool's History of the Piano : Presenter
• 2006 Top Gear: Star in a reasonably priced car.
• 2007 Fairport@Forty: Interview
• 2009 Chop Shop Rover Concept: The Jet 1 Car : Customer

Current television programmes[link]

• 1992–present Later... with Jools Holland
• 1993–present Hootenanny

Books[link]

• "Rolling Stones": A Life on the Road, (with Dora Loewenstein), Viking/Allen Lane (1998), (ISBN 0-670-88051-5)
• Beat Route: Journeys Through Six Counties, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (1998), (ISBN 0-575-06700-4)
• Ray Charles: Man and Music, (with Michael Lydon), Payback Press (1999), (ISBN 0-86241-929-8)
• Hand That Changed Its Mind , International Music Publications (2007), (ISBN 1-84328-645-9)
• Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts , Michael Joseph Ltd (2007), (ISBN 0-7181-4915-7)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jools Holland at the Internet Movie Database
• Jools Holland's Radio 2 show at BBC Programmes
• Later...with Jools Holland at BBC Online