Editor’s Pick: San Fermin brings classical and so much more to BottleRock

Don’t let Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s name — or musical background — fool you. He’s not a snooty musician, despite being classically trained at Yale.

“It’s the Ludwig,” he conceded. “I figure it sounds very pretentious, but honestly that’s not my fault.”

Laughing yet sounding a bit winded during a recent phone interview, Ludwig-Leone had a great sense of humor for a bandleader of seven who just got back from a whirlwind of a tour through the Midwest. He returned home to New York a couple of weeks ago to rest up for BottleRock, which will bring him and his Baroque pop band, San Fermin, to Napa this weekend.

Ludwig-Leone founded San Fermin in 2011, initially working with nearly two dozen musicians before refining the band to its current configuration, which includes female (Charlene Kaye) and male (Allen Tate) lead vocalists as well as horns and strings among other components, for a multilayered sound that is poppy, folky, classical but hard to place.

“I realized early on that what I brought to the table was the ability to write for a bunch of instruments,” said Ludwig-Leone, who studied composition. “What I try to bring to life are the sounds that come to my head when I think of music. … Having a big band is the ideal situation because any kind of sound I’m thinking of, there’s a really good chance I have the tools and the players.”

But Ludwig-Leone doesn’t tower over the band as a conductor with a baton and, since the release of San Fermin’s self-titled debut album in 2013, admits creating music with his bandmates has become “a much more organic creative process.”

“When I first started, it centered around me as a composer, but touring for a couple of years with a band has changed that,” he said. “I have a vision of what these songs could be, and there are things that are nonnegotiable. But I’d be stupid to not use the tools I have at my disposal, and the tools I have at my disposal are these great musicians.”

Still riding the high of San Fermin’s 2015 sophomore album, “Jackrabbit,” Ludwig-Leone said they’re already working on new material, some songs that the band is excited to perform for its BottleRock fans before unwinding a bit in Wine Country.

“We’ve been burning the candle at both ends for the last two years — this fall will be the first time we won’t be on tour,” he said. “So yes, after the festival, I can’t wait; Allen and I are going to stay an extra day with friends to do some wine tasting.”

Another great band to catch Saturday, May 28, is the Joy Formidable, a Welsh trio fronted by the rockin’ Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan, who sings and plays guitar. The band is on the road in support of its latest album, “Hitch,” which was released in March, and will hit the Midway Stage at 3 p.m. If there are any Twihards in the BottleRock crowd, keep an ear out for the band’s 2011 song “Endtapes,” which was featured on “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” film soundtrack.

San Fermin: 4:45 p.m. Saturday, May 28. Sold out. BottleRock Napa, Lagunitas Stage, Napa Expo, 575 Third St., Napa. www.bottlerocknapavalley.com

Listen to San Fermin’s “No Devil” on the band’s official site: www.sanferminband.com