Conrad Ford

It was during one of Seattle's rainiest summers in recent memory that the outlaws started to creep into Conrad Ford's country-tinged tales. They came by way of the real-life adventures of the band members and their families - mental health crises at a youth detention facility, running a weight room at a minimum security prison, tax evasion and imprisonment of a longtime friend. These tales brought daily discussion of what makes an outcast. And how that outcast copes. And grows.

It was during one of Seattle's rainiest summers in recent memory that the outlaws started to creep into Conrad Ford's country-tinged tales. They came by way of the real-life adventures of the band members and their families - mental health crises at a youth detention facility, running a weight room at a minimum security prison, tax evasion and imprisonment of a longtime friend. These tales brought daily discussion of what makes an outcast. And how that outcast copes.

And grows. It was during his morning ferry commute and afternoon farmyard roaming that McAllister began humming a majority of the songs found on Secret Army. The resulting songs, which they often referred to as "outcast country", are a collection of stories detailing battles for hope and companionship. Woven from the perspectives of lone travelers, fellons, family men and mountain climbers - their execution sways from folk-ish, Townes Van Zandt-like ballads to the fuller Flying Burrito Brothers-inspired, laid-back country rock. Their latest album 'Secret Army' came out in April 2008 on Tarnished records.

Mixed by Tucker Martine(The Decemberists, Jesse Sykes, Laura Viers, Thao Nguyen). Their first full-length Don't You Miss Yourself, mixed by Phil Ek (The Shins/Band of Horses/Built to Spill) is also available on Tarnished Records. Conrad Ford is currently back in the studio in Seattle working on another album. There has been a blog entry on Feb 2010: Jordan and Nate are playing together in The Grandtours: http://www.thegrandtoursmusic.com Jordan also has got a cool side project going called The Buffalo Runners: http://www.myspace.com/thebuffalorunners And he just produced and recorded the debut album for Damien Jurado's new band, Hoquiam: http://www.myspace.com/hoquiamwa Andy is now in LA editing films and playing in Vanish Valley and will be putting out a new album this spring: http://www.myspace.com/vanishvalley And last but most importantly... April just had a lovely baby girl so huge congrats to her!!! User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..