Left Arm Tan was a pretty popular, twangy roots-rock outfit, but when they disbanded earlier this year, guitarist Daniel Hines wrote “about 50 to 70 songs,” he said, “and it felt like a story was forming.”
Hines and three other former LAT members — Mark Belding, Brian Lee, and Shawn Light — formed Marfa Lights, whose recently released eponymous debut album was inspired by Hines’ “novella-like” story. It’s essentially a road trip to self-discovery, one told through the eyes of a Gen X dude breaking down in his 1970 Ranchero in Marfa on the way to Mexico. The band’s name, Hines said, is a pretty accurate reflection of their sound. “The small-town Southwestern desert vibe [with] Latin influences is what we were going for” in the studio.
Said studio was the River Oaks home retreat of producer/singer-songwriter Phil Pritchett (Red Shahan, Sanco Loop, Seth Van Dover). Hines recalled looking for a studio when someone suggested Pritchett. “We had lunch,” Hines said, “and knew it was a perfect fit. I can’t say enough about how great it was to work with” Pritchett.
Hines considers the end product Americana minus the country fundaments that typically inform it. “We wanted this album to be uniquely different and have a sound that isn’t like anything else. We didn’t want things to be too perfect, and we wanted the songs to be raw and natural.”
Hines is really happy with the result. Pritchett is, too.
The producer said Hines “had a good vision for the album. There is an unusual artistic approach to it, and knowing our boundaries, when we were getting a too-familiar sound, [Hines’] role was to point that out. It was fun and challenging to record, and it’s really special.”
Light mastered the LP at his home studio, which Hines feels helped drive home the sound they all wanted.
“There’s something about when you turn on an old song from the 1970s on an old car stereo,” Hines said. “A big theme for the album is the intersection between old and new technology.”
Marfa Lights already have enough material for a follow-up album, Hines said. The future, he added, is — like an empty road outside Marfa — wide open.
“I enjoy writing songs and playing music,” he said. “I [said to myself] at the end of Left Arm Tan, ‘If there were 100 people in the room that like what you do and want you to play your music, I think that alone justifies making music.’ ”
Marfa Lights
Sat w/Phil Pritchett at the Ridglea Room, 3309 Winthrop Av, Ste 64, Fort Worth.
$20-200. 817- 941-0086.
