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.
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