Fleet Foxes have released two live covers on Bandcamp. Their version of the Strokes’ ‘Under Control’ was performed with Uwade at NYC’s Forest Hills Stadium last August, while their take on Joni Mitchell’s ‘Hejira’, featuring Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen and Robin Pecknold’s father Greg Pecknold, was performed at the band’s “Spring Recital” show with Joanna Newsom in Los Angeles in March. Take a listen below.
“Last summer we were honored to have the incredible vocalist and songwriter Uwade Akhere open for us on tour,” Pecknold said in a statement. “One thing we all bonded over backstage was a shared love of The Strokes — hearing Uwa’s voice echoing down the halls as she sang ‘The End Has No End’ or ‘Reptilia’ was always a highlight of the day. Considering this, I thought she might get a kick out of singing ‘Under Control’ with us and the Westerlies at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, so we pulled it together at soundcheck and asked her — it was amazing! She ruled it. Thank you Uwade!”
“My father built bass guitars and played in bands in his twenties and thirties in the Northwest; his dream was to be Joni Mitchell’s bassist, like the great Jaco Pastorius,” Pecknold added. “Right before our surprise show with Joanna Newsom in March, I bought back for him one of the fretless basses he had made in the 80’s, and I thought it would be sweet for us to play ‘Hejira’ together on the same bill as Joanna, the Joni of our time. It was also an honor to be joined by Daniel Rossen for this, one of the greatest musicians of the last 20 years. Thank you Dan and Dad!”
Fleet Foxes begin another tour with Uwade tonight in Cleveland.
