Fleet Foxes are kicking off their summer tour tonight in Cleveland and will stop at Bonnaroo this weekend. To alert us to these proceedings, the band has officially released two recent live cover tunes. The first is the version of the Strokes’ “Under Control” Fleet Foxes played with Uwade and the Westerlies at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens last August. The second is a take on Joni Mitchell’s “Hejira” performed by Robin Pecknold with his dad, Greg Pecknold, and Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen at Fleet Foxes’ “Spring Recital” show with Joanna Newsom at The Belasco in Los Angeles in March.

Comments from Robin on the “Under Control” cover:

Last summer we were honored to have the incredible vocalist and songwriter Uwade Akhere open for us on tour. 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!

He has thoughts on “Hejira” too:

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. 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!

Below, check out both covers and Fleet Foxes’ tour dates.

TOUR DATES:
06/13 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater*
06/14 Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe*
06/16 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
06/17 St. Louis, MO @ The Factory*
06/18 Louisville, KY @ Old Forester’s Paristown Hall*
06/20 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall*
06/21 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE*
06/23 Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit*
06/24 Charleston, SC @ Firefly Distillery*
06/25 Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live*
06/27 Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing*
06/28 New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore*
06/30 Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom*
07/01 Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre*
07/02 Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse Omaha*
07/04 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
07/09 Indianapolis, IN @ The Murat Theatre at Old National Centre*
07/11 Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point*
07/12 LaFayette, NY @ Beak & Skiff*
07/16 Halifax, NS @ Halifax Jazz Festival
08/18 Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre ^^
08/19 Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre ^^
08/20 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl ^^
08/22 Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre*
08/24 Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Square*
08/25 Port Townsend, WA @ Thing Festival
11/17 Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital

*with Uwade
^^ Co-headline with My Morning Jacket