Today needs to be short … it was quite a busy day. In fact, I couldn’t even go down and grab any discs, so today’s post is transferred from the digital only part of the project (stuff I have bought, but never bought on CD). Getting the Fleet Foxes onto the server is a nice step though… good to make sure this music is well backed up.

I am biased when it comes to the Fleet Foxes. Casey Wescott (keyboards and vocal) was a former student and classmate of mine. I TA’s his last theory class at the UW, and we went through the intro to computer music series together (as well as a number of the advanced classes). While he was a student at UW, Casey also was tireless trying to put together and maintain bands and tours. To see him and the Fleet Foxes have such a successful couple of years is exciting. I know how hard these guys work, and while most groups probably go through similar years of hard work, hearing about it first hand from Casey just strikes me as amazing. These guys toured like crazy the past couple years, and have worked to create a sound that comes from all their different influences. And I think it sounds great. Saturated reverbs, beautiful harmony, and some great musicianship. In general, not what you see a lot of in pop groups these days.

One of my most exciting memories though was hearing the simulcast of their performance at Newport Folk in 2009 (which I downloaded and split into tracks). Pete Seeger was performing at this festival this year as folk stars from around the world paid him tribute, and the Fleet Foxes even got to perform with him at the close of the festival. Mavis Staples was performing the same day… and they got to share the same festival with these legends! It was blowing my mind. Then as the music began, I could see how well these guys were fitting into this scene. Live, the music was just as lovely as the albums. It was a thrilling hour, and I got chills more then a few times.

I saw Casey a couple weeks later (we still get together when we can to catch up and share SuperCollider stuff). He was still excited as could be about the performance. As he put it: “Here I was watching Mavis Staples and Pete Seeger and I’m thinking, what the HELL am I doing here?”. It takes some self-esteem to get on stage and tour with a rock band night after night… but the modesty I heard in his voice at the same time amazed me. The weight of historical perspective was not lost on Casey who has had a VERY successful couple years as a musician. And really I think that is what separates a lot of professionals from amateurs. Professionals  know they are just part of a lineage. They weren’t the first and they aren’t the last. In the current music business, I had forgotten how many performers today don’t necessarily get this anymore. By the sound the Fleet Foxes bring together (really a huge variety of performers spanning probably close to a 70 years of blues, folk and rock) I can tell that this significance is not lost on them.