Fruit Bats

In 1999, Eric Johnson (not the Grammy-winning guitar perfectionist or the former Archers of Loaf member) paddled away from his previous outfit, I, Rowboat. After a fortuitous hook-up with Fruit Bats, which had enlisted Johnson to play guitar and banjo, the band released 2001’s Echolocation. Fruit Bats’ lineup now features Johnson, Gillian Lisee and an ever-mutating crew, and its sound constantly changes as well, building upon its whacked-out folk origins to encompass a breezy pastiche of summertime melody.