One of the more forward queries writers once posed to subjects of the Exclaim! Questionnaire was "What makes you want to take it off and get it on?" If we were to ask that of Hunter Biden, his answer would apparently be the mellifluous folk stylings of Fleet Foxes.
The son of United States President Joe Biden is currently on trial for gun-related charges, and on Wednesday (June 5), the court heard witness testimony relating to Hunter Biden's drug use — which included a mention of the music of Robin Pecknold and co. Prosecutors claim Hunter Biden lied about his drug addiction when filing paperwork to purchase a firearm, ahead of illegally possessing the gun for a two-week period.
One of the witnesses testifying was Zoe Kestan, a former romantic partner of Biden's who recalled what was playing the evening she met him while working at a strip club. Politico reports on her testimony as follows:
The next witness was Zoe Kestan, a former romantic partner of Biden. She testified that she met him on Dec. 17, 2017, when she worked at a strip club in midtown Manhattan and he booked her and another woman for a private dance. Biden played the music by the indie folk band Fleet Foxes on his phone — and he smoked something she assumed was crack.
"I felt really safe around him," she said.
She saw him again a week later, and they stayed together for five days at the Soho Grand Hotel. He typically smoked crack every 20 minutes, she testified, and he was "just so charming and so nice. At the time, I felt myself having feelings for him."
We'll skip the Crack-Up jokes, as addiction is no laughing matter, but the thought of receiving a dance while "Ragged Wood" or "White Winter Hymnal" plays is downright hilarious. This could be the most random Fleet Foxes appearance since that 2021 studio session with Post Malone and Kanye West.
Back in 2017, bandleader Pecknold shared with Exclaim! that the presidential opponent of Hunter Biden's father was influential to the creation of 2017's Crack-Up. Fleet Foxes' most recent album remains 2020's Shore.
Exclaim! recently named Fleet Foxes among Five Must-See Acts at Ontario's Riverfest Elora 2024. The band will also make a stop at Festival d'été de Quebec 2024 in July.