Tired Pony was an indie folk supergroup consisting of

Gary Lightbody Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups the Reindeer Section and T ...

Richard Colburn Richard Colburn (born 25 July 1970) is a Scottish musician and the drummer of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian. Before he joined Belle & Sebastian, he used to sell pies on match days outside Celtic Park and studied Music Business at Sto ...

Iain Archer Iain Archer is a Northern Irish writer, producer, singer and songwriter from Bangor. He is a two-time Ivor Novello Award winner, winning the 2004 Album Award – ''Final Straw'' by Snow Patrol and Most Performed Work in 2016 for Grammy nominat ...

Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Direc ...

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.; he played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

, Tom Smith and Troy Stewart. Lightbody formed the group out of his appreciation for country music, and has during the early planning phase described the group's music once as "country-tinged" but explained later that in the end the album's development turned out much more

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

than country during the whole creative process in the studio. The group visited

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

in January 2010 to record this debut album, which was produced by member Lee; '' The Place We Ran From'' was released on 12 July 2010. Tired Pony began recording their second album ''

The Ghost of the Mountain ''The Ghost of the Mountain'' is the second album by Tired Pony, released on 19 August 2013 in the United Kingdom and on 1 October 2013 in the United States. The album was recorded between February and March, 2013, at Jacknife Lee's studio in To ...

'' on 19 February 2013, which was released on 19 August 2013.

History

Tired Pony was formed by Gary Lightbody (of

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

), who had a "long-term ambition" of making a country album. He revealed the project's existence in May 2009. In the interview, he expressed his love for country music, which he said he had loved for a long time: "I always thought I had a country album in me and it turns out I did." The rest of Snow Patrol expressed excitement for their band-mate, "delighted that ightbody wasgetting to exercise all his crazy ideas." In October 2009, Lightbody in his blog on Snow Patrol's website revealed the members of the group to be

(of

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

, singer Miriam Kaufmann (Archer's wife), and

. He talked about two more members whom he was excited about, but didn't name them. He also stated that the album won't be country as was being reported, but would be "country-tinged". In January 2010, ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' reported

(of

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

) to be a member of the group. Lightbody described Buck as one of his "all-time heroes" and admired his talent for playing a variety of instruments. Lightbody looks at the project as something he has "wanted to get out of issystem", and said that "

e doesn't E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plu ...

know whether people will dig it or not.". About the album he furthermore said he wanted to write a twisted love-letter to the States. Tired Pony played their first ever live show at London's Forum venue in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

on July 14, 2010, and were joined on stage by 2009 Mercury Music Prize nominee

Lisa Hannigan Lisa Margaret Hannigan (born 12 February 1981) is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. She began her musical career as a member of Damien Rice's band. Since beginning her solo career in 2007 she has released three albums: '' S ...

who stepped in for

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel ( ; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She made her film debut in ''Mumford (film), Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known f ...

on song "Get On The Road".

Editors Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

singer Tom Smith also joined the group on stage. On September 30, 2010, Tired Pony appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Dead American Writers" from their album, ''The Place We Ran From''. "Get on the road" was also featured on Showtime drama "Shameless" at the end of "Just Like the Pilgrims Intended" episode. Also, the song played towards the end of the TV show "Pure Genius" episode 6 of season 1 titled "Bunker Hill, We have a Problem". Aired 12/1/2016.

2010: ''The Place We Ran From''

'' The Place We Ran From'' is the first album by Tired Pony. It was released on July 12, 2010, in the United Kingdom and on September 28, 2010, in the United States. Its first single was "Dead American Writers, released one week before the album on vinyl only." It was recorded in only one week in January 2010, in

, United States. It includes contributions from actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, guitarist

M. Ward Matthew Stephen "M." Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, Grammy nominated producer and guitarist from Glendale, California. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings. He has r ...

, and Tom Smith of the indie rock group

. Apart from playing on the album, Jacknife Lee is handling album production. The video for "Dead American Writers" stars British actor

Joseph Gilgun Joseph William Gilgun (born 9 March 1984) is an English actor and producer known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the Sky Max series '' Brassic'', which he also co-created, Marcus in ''Hollyoaks'', Eli Dingle in the ITV ...

and was directed by Paul Fraser (a longtime collaborator of

Shane Meadows Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015). Meadows' other films inc ...

). On 13 October 2009, Lightbody debuted a Tired Pony song during Snow Patrol's tour stop in Portland, called "I Finally Love This Town". While playing an acoustic session for radio station

KINK KINK (101.9 FM also known as kink.fm) is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and it airs an adult album alternative radio format. KINK's studios and offices are on Southwest 5th Avenue in the PacWest C ...

, he introduced the song, which he said he had written the previous night. He said that the song was "written in Portland, inspired by Portland."KINK – Event occurs at 14:46.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Snow Patrol Musical groups established in 2009 R.E.M. Polydor Records artists Fiction Records artists Folk music groups from Northern Ireland British indie folk groups American indie folk groups Supergroups (music) Mom + Pop Music artists