By Jay Minkin

9/22/11

It's been a good year so far, as many of my favorite record releases have coincided with a band tour to our area, including Over The Rhine, John Langford, and The Decemberists. But the big show

of the year could be when Fleet Foxes plays Cleveland’s Masonic Auditorium on Wednesday, September 28. Touring behind their second full length record, this is the one I’ve been waiting for since purchasing the band’s self-titled debut at Amoeba Records in San Francisco. (Yes, I go to great lengths to get my music.)

School chums Skyler Skjelset and Robin Pecknold formed the band in Seattle and started receiving some love playing around town. As time went on, lead singer and principal songwriter Pecknold and lead guitarist Skjelset began adding more members to the group, including Christian Wargo, on bass, Joshua Tillman, on drums, and Casey Wescott, on keyboards. All the later members added vocals to give the songs beautiful harmonies and layers.

Their debut full-length album, Fleet Foxes, was released in 2008 to spectacular reviews with songs “Your Protector” and “White Winter Hymnal” leading the way.

In 2009, the band kept music fans’ appetites wet with the Sun Giant EP release, and songs like “English House” and “Mykonos” gave the band continued radio play. There is always pressure with the release of the sophomore effort and many bands have disappeared after one great release, but Pecknold really delivered with Helplessness Blues this past May, and radios, turntables, compact disc players, and memory cards have been happily embracing the new 12-track release.

Produced by Phil Ek, the band added Morgan Henderson as an instrumentalist along with a number of new instrument sounds. Some of my favorites you should sample include “Montezuma,” “Sim Sala Bim,” and “Grown Ocean,” along with the title track.

It’s amazing that there are still tickets available to this show, thanks to The Grog Shop, which can be purchased on the fan- friendly TicketWeb.com site. So find out what the buzz is about and check out Fleet Foxes live in concert along with their discography at your local record store.

To reach Jay, email blues4bird@aol.com.