The Acorn differentiated itself from the pack by using acoustic instruments and conceptual themes, creating a sound that owed as much to experimental folk as rock & roll. Formed by songwriter Rolf Klausener as a one-man recording project in 2002, the Acorn released debut full-length The Pink Ghosts on Kelp Records in 2004, followed by the Blankets! EP the following year. Paper Bag Records signed the Acorn and released the Tin Fist EP in 2006. By the time Glory Hope Mountain appeared in 2007, the project had grown into a full band. Based on the life of Klausener's Honduran-born mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya, the album helped position the Acorn as another popular Canadian export. In 2008, Paper Bag issued Heron Act, a collection of radio sessions and demos, and the band self-released two digital EPs (Little Elms and Ear Worms). The Acorn's third proper full-length, No Ghost, appeared in 2010, quickly followed by remix album Make the Least of the Day: No Ghost Reinterpreted. Following these releases, the group took a bit of a hiatus, as several of its members relocated and Klausener worked on an electronic music side project called Silkken Laumann. He continued writing songs during this period, and the Acorn's minimal, electronic-tinged album Vieux Loup was released in 2015. ~ Andrew Leahey