Fruit Bats are a band hailing from Chicago, Illinois, United States who formed in 1997. Since their debut, the band have released five studio albums and have become one of the most acclaimed and beloved alternative country bands of their time.
Formed around the songwriting prowess of Eric D Johnson, the band came together when Johnson drafted members of the band he was in, I Rowboat, to work on bringing his solo project Fruit Bats to life. Johnson had been a jobbing guitarist in a number of bands before, but by 2000 he was teaching at Chicago's Old Town School Of Folk Music. Deciding to give a genuine career in music one last shot, he drafted I Rowboat members Dan Strack and Brian Belval to form a live band for his solo work, and started performing as Fruit Bats soon afterwards. By 2001, the act had signed to Perishable Records and released “Echolocation”, their debut album.
The band spent the rest of the year on tour, either playing headline shows or supporting other indie rock bands making huge waves for themselves. One of these bands was the New Mexico based group The Shins, who became friends with Fruit Bands during their time touring together. As a result of this connection, the band signed with The Shins' label, indie rock legends Sub Pop, in 2002. Since then, the band have released a further four records, each of them as hugely acclaimed as the last, and even though Johnson pulled the plug on the band in 2013, he put the band back together in 2015 to tour with My Morning Jacket. For remaining one of the most exciting projects in indie rock nearly two decades after their beginning, Fruit Bats come highly recommended.
Steve Lacy
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