Tired Pony
OriginNorthern Ireland
United States
GenresIndie folk[1]
Years active2009–2013
LabelsFiction Records, Mom + Pop Music
Past membersGary Lightbody
Richard Colburn
Iain Archer
Jacknife Lee
Peter Buck
Scott McCaughey
Troy Stewart
Websitewww.tiredpony.com

Tired Pony was an indie folk supergroup consisting of Gary Lightbody, Richard Colburn, Iain Archer, Jacknife Lee, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, 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 than country during the whole creative process in the studio. The group visited Portland, Oregon 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 on 19 February 2013, which was released on 19 August 2013.

History

Tired Pony was formed by Gary Lightbody (of Snow Patrol), who had a "long-term ambition" of making a country album.[2] 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."[3] The rest of Snow Patrol expressed excitement for their band-mate, "delighted that [Lightbody was] getting to exercise all his crazy ideas."[4] In October 2009, Lightbody in his blog on Snow Patrol's website revealed the members of the group to be Richard Colburn (of Belle & Sebastian), Iain Archer, singer Miriam Kaufmann (Archer's wife), and Jacknife Lee. He talked about two more members whom he was very excited about, but didn't name them.[5][6] He also stated that the album won't be country as was being reported,[3][7][8][9] but would be "country-tinged".[5] In January 2010, Hot Press reported Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) 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.[6] Lightbody looks at the project as something he has "wanted to get out of [his] system", and said that "[he doesn't] know whether people will dig it or not.".[3] About the album he furthermore said he wanted to write a twisted love-letter to the States.[10]

Tired Pony played their first ever live show at London's Forum venue in Kentish Town on July 14, 2010, and were joined on stage by 2009 Mercury Music Prize nominee Lisa Hannigan who stepped in for Zooey Deschanel on song "Get On The Road". Editors 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[11] 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."[12] It was recorded in only one week in January 2010, in Portland, Oregon, United States.[13] It includes contributions from actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, guitarist M. Ward, and Tom Smith of the indie rock group Editors.[14] Apart from playing on the album, Jacknife Lee is handling album production.[15] The video for "Dead American Writers" stars British actor Joseph Gilgun and was directed by Paul Fraser (a longtime collaborator of Shane Meadows).[16]

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, he introduced the song, which he said he had written the previous night.[17] He said that the song was "written in Portland, inspired by Portland."[18]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions
UK IRL
[19] 		NL BE
2010 The Place We Ran From 17 27 14 24
2013 The Ghost of the Mountain 14 34 31 109

Singles

Year Title Album
2010 "Dead American Writers" The Place We Ran From
"Get on the Road" (promo)
2013 "All Things All at Once" The Ghost of the Mountain

References

  1. ^ "Supergroup Tired Pony Announce Second Album". The Music. Street Press Australia. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Gary Lightbody to go solo". Xfm. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody going solo". NME. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Iain Archer confirms Belfast gig + Gary Lightbody collaboration plans". Hot Press. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b Lightbody, Gary (13 October 2009). "Book 'em danno". snowpatrol.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ a b "Gary Lightbody works with Peter Buck". Hot Press. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2010.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Murray, Robin (5 May 2009). "Gary Lightbody goes solo". Clash. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ Rogers, Georgie (5 May 2009). "Gary Lightbody solo". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ MacNeill, Jason (13 October 2009). "Snow Patrol singer prepping two side projects". CHARTattack. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Tired Pony Coming to North America". Musicnews. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Tired Pony Official Site :: The Place We Ran From :: Out 12th July". Tiredpony.com. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  12. ^ "Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody announces REM collaboration album | News". Nme.Com. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  13. ^ the_eskimos (8 December 2009). "Gary Lightbody : Diary : tired pony". Snow Patrol. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  14. ^ "Snow Patrol and REM join forces". BBC News. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  15. ^ "Gary Lightbody is always 'up' to something". Sentimentalist Magazine. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ "Tired Pony, 'Dead American Writers' - Video Premiere - Spinner UK". Spinnermusic.co.uk. 23 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  17. ^ KINK – Event occurs at 11:01.
  18. ^ KINK – Event occurs at 14:46.
  19. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Discography Tired Pony". irishcharts.com. Retrieved 28 September 2011.

External links

Tired Pony
R.E.M.
Snow Patrol
The Minus 5
Tuatara
The Baseball Project
Filthy Friends
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