Left Arm Tan (LAT) - “From the opening notes of this Fort Worth's foursome's full-length, you can see the prairie dust whistling past an open car window as it blasts down a wide-open highway.” (Fort Worth Star Telegram) This is Texas driving music that carries you from the Hill Country, through the Rust Belt, on to California highways and back. This is hang-your-arm-out-the-window music that nourishes the soul.
LAT is a veritable powerhouse of Texas music, featuring frontman Troy Austin on vocals, and well known Texas musicians Kirk Richardson (Speedtrucker, Rachel Stacy, Four Mile Mule), Daniel Hines (Four Mile Mule, Bad Haskells) and Tim Manders (Four Mile Mule, Buck Jones, I the Jury). The debut album, Jim, is a radio friendly nod to the timeless sounds of the Byrds and Allman Brothers, and an artful ode to critical darlings Wilco and Ryan Adams. Or, to put it in other terms, “it's modern country music that understands that gloss is useless… the songwriting… would be right at home in heavy rotation on CMT.” (Fort Worth Star Telegram) You see, the story really starts about 12 years ago in the aftermath of the Dallas alternative music scene. At a time when Dallas musicians were just realizing that the local alternative scene was not going to blossom into “another Seattle,” an alt-country band Four Mile Mule appeared and recorded an unassuming album that planted some influential seeds in like minded Texas bands. Pretty soon Four Mile Mule was sharing the bill with new bands like Cross Canadian Ragweed and Jason Boland, as well as legends like Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Wiley Hubbard. And Texans realized that bands like these made Nashville quite forgettable.
Fast forward to 2009 when lead singer Troy Austin joined up with the former Mules (Daniel, Kirk and Tim) and went into the studio with the legendary Robin Hood Brians (ZZ Top) at the mixing board. A year later they would emerge with a truly unique answer for the emerging Texas country scene, the album titled Jim…Eleven songs that braid together the blue collar ethic of Son Volt, the radio friendly harmonies of the Eagles and the earthy attitude of Ryan Bingham.But while critics and fans seem to quickly understand the vibe of Jim the album, there’s much more to the story. Because you don’t really know Jim until you meet him in person at a LAT show… where the guitars crackle to life and the harmonies surround the audience. And it is live that Left Arm Tan becomes more than just a band…they become an approachable friend to the audience, but with a compelling vibe, purpose and swagger. It’s a rock show with pearl snap shirts. And when you’re done soaking up the authentic vibe, you can roll down your window and drive home knowing that yet again the circle is unbroken.