Vulfpeck

Vulfpeck formed in 2011 as a primarily instrumental outfit rooted in Los Angeles, drawing inspiration from the classic R&B grooves laid down by the Funk Brothers, the Meters, and likely Booker T. & the MG's. Its core lineup—bassist Joe Dart, keyboardist Woody Goss, former My Dear Disco guitarist Theo Katzman, and keyboardist/drummer Jack Stratton—first connected while studying at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor. By the close of that year the group had issued its debut EP, the six-track Mit Peck, and continued releasing comparably concise EPs through 2014. In March of the latter year the band devised Sleepify, a uniform collection whose ten thirty-second tracks consisted solely of silence, among them the pieces titled “Z,” “Zzzzz,” and “Zzzzzzzzzz.” Proceeds generated by the mostly nighttime streams of that project underwrote a brief, free-admission tour across the United States that September, after which the streaming platform withdrew the release. Three months later the single “Christmas in L.A.” appeared, spotlighting session giant David T. Walker on guitar.

The band’s first full-length album, Thrill of the Arts, arrived in 2015 and included notable contributions from Blake Mills among other guests; the set reached the Top 20 of the Billboard R&B Albums chart and prompted a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2016 Vulfpeck followed with The Beautiful Game, which charted on multiple Billboard tallies and peaked at number six on R&B Albums. Maintaining an independent release schedule, the group put out Mr. Finish Line in 2017, featuring frequent collaborators Antwaun Stanley and Joey Dosik alongside Walker, drummer James Gadson, and Bootsy Collins. December 2018 brought Hill Climber, the ensemble’s eighth studio long-player. The vinyl anthology Vulf Vault 001: Antwaun Stanley surfaced in August 2020.