Indie Rock Favorite Goes Solo for New Tour: Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes Sets Acoustic Run

Fleet Foxes’ frontman Robin Pecknold is heading out on a solo tour for the first time ever. The singer-songwriter has been playing his indie folk rock tunes with guitarist Skyler Skjelset an a rotating cast of other musicians for nearly two decades, and but now he’s setting out for some more “intimate” performances across the U.S. The band announced the tour on Instagram, and tickets go on sale on Thursday, Aug. 8.

The announcement included a poster for “Robin from Fleet Foxes First (last?) Solo Acoustic Tour Fall 2024.” The post said that the tour will be “Kicking off with two nights at the iconic Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY, followed by stops in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. These dates mark Robin’s first solo tour and we’d love to see you there – a rare chance to hear catalog favorites, rarities and more in intimate settings.”

The tour gets an auspicious start in Woodstock, as Fleet Foxes are heavily influenced by some of the songwriters of the 1960s that called the town home, including Bob Dylan. There are two shows in New York City that weekend followed by one stop in Chicago, two nights in San Francisco, one night in the band’s hometown of Seattle and finally one last show in Portland, Oregon.

Pecknold and Skjelset founded Fleet Foxes in high school in Kirkland, Washington with keyboardist Casey Wescott, bassist Bryn Lumsden and drummer Nicholas Peterson. Their popularity grew steadily in the local scene and exploded online, and from the beginning they made extensive touring a big part of their work. However, the demands of touring also led to a lot of lineup changes as musicians stepped aside to focus on other projects. That included the tumultuous tenure of drummer Josh Tillman, who left the band in dramatic fashion in 2013 for his own project, Father John Misty.

Around this time, Fleet Foxes took a three-year hiatus, but since returning in 2017 they have worked steadily, releasing music and then embarking on long tours to play it. In September of 2020 they released Shore, and after touring on that album they released a collection of live recordings called A Very Lonely Solstice in December of 2021. That is the latest album, meaning that there is no new record for Pecknold to promote on his solo tour.

Pecknold’s solo tour stars on Thursday, Nov. 14 in Woodstock, New York. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, Aug. 8 via the band’s website.