Details

The first notes of "Fences Down" were written on a stage in Japan in January, during a moment of solitude at a sound check on what would be the final At The Drive In tour. I had been listening to the old 97's and slowly discovering that some sort of country and rock n roll combination was taking me over. I met some new friends who introduced me to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons and I was hooked. I made some half-joking plans to start a country band, but then got distracted by life. At The Drive In ended, Sparta began. In the fall of 2002 I went in to a west Texas studio to record some demos of the songs that were bouncing around in my head. There at Sonic Ranch I met Chris Heinrich. He was from El Paso, a little younger than me, but was a pedal steel player and that was what I needed. That session led me to finish writing “Fences Down” and a new song called “Heavy Weights”. It was never meant to be a band, it was just a jam, just fun. But I was hooked even more. I wrote some more songs here and there but never thought too much of it. Then in July of 2005 my friend David Garza convinced me to get a group together to play these songs and open for him on July 4th weekend in El Paso.

After the show, we recorded a more detailed demo to document the progress. With 8 songs now and a decent recording, I continued to chip away at the music while on tour, or when I was home for a break. I started the final recording in a second-story loft that houses an ad agency in El Paso—a little at a time. I recorded all my guitars and keyboards and pianos at my own home studio. Heinrich, Gabe Gonzalez and my dad would round out the recordings on guitars, bass, and drums respectively.

-Jim Ward.

Tracks

1. A Broken Promise
2. Wasting My Time
3. Fences Down
4. Wednesday Nights
5. Kings And Compromises
6. Heavy Weights
7. Sound The Alarm
8. End Of A Year
9. You Should Run
10. All Will End Well
11. Stumble In