Live Video: Fruit Bats

Closing out his career as Fruit Bats, Eric D. Johnson has come full circle. Sixteen years ago, he started the folksy project as a personal outlet, but, as these things happen, the singer-songwriter solo effort eventually grew into a full band, first, with support of his tourmates, Califone (one of a handful of bands he also performed with), and then with alternating members for the production of five studio albums and countless live shows. Late last year, Johnson revealed on his website that he was ending Fruit Bats for "no major or dramatic reason" but that he wanted this to be "the start of chapter two". For the fans that have supported him over the years, and for those who might still get the opportunity to discover this great band, Johnson released the Fruit Bats' popular second album, Mouthfuls, on limited edition vinyl and played a handful of shows to both celebrate and say goodbye. And while friends, contributors and collaborators took the stage with him at each venue, Johnson stopped by the KEXP studio alone, as it all began, to perform four songs from Mouthfuls and to remind us that he's not closing the book, but just delving deeper into the story of his life.

Full Performance: