Formed by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody as an outlet for his fascination with country music, Tired Pony began taking shape in May 2009. By October, the solo project had grown into a full-fledged supergroup featuring another Snow Patrol veteran, Iain Archer, his wife Miriam Kaufmann, producer/musician Jacknife Lee, Belle & Sebastian percussionist Richard Colburn, auxiliary R.E.M. member Scott McCaughey, and Troy Stewart. Peter Buck joined several months later, and Tired Pony traveled to Portland in early 2010 to record their debut, The Place We Ran From, which featured guest appearances by Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, and Editors frontman Tom Smith. ~ Andrew Leahey