Formed in the musical hotbed of Austin, Texas, the Arc Angels consist of some of the finest musical talents to ever play an instrument. With a devoted and adoring fan base, the Arc Angels are known as a tremendous band with an equally tremendous story. That story began in 1992 after the devastating loss of their friend and fellow musician Stevie Ray Vaughan. The miracle that came from that loss was the unique sound of four musicians aptly named – The Arc Angels: drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon (the veteran rhythm section of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble) coupled with musical wonders Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II sharing lead vocal and lead guitar duties.
The foundation of the Arc Angels was laid at the Austin Rehearsal Center (ARC) which so aptly gave them a name. There, Sexton had a writing room to work on his next solo album, Bramhall was working under a development deal with Geffen Records, and Layton had a drum room where he would often practice. The initial idea had been quite simple; create a band that can jam when people happened to be in town or not on tour with Stevie. But Vaughan’s death changed everything. When the foursome came together, press were quick to dub them a “Texas supergroup,” but the guys shunned that tag. The band was purely a musical outlet and inspiration to all of them.
Not intending to be a recording band, the guys played live and just for fun, opening for the likes of Robert Cray. But they soon found the excitement and challenges of being a band, worth the effort. Sexton and Bramhall tabled their solo projects and began creating music specifically for the Arc Angels.
The band’s 1992 debut album release, Arc Angels, on Geffen Records met with much critical acclaim and managed to break onto the Billboard Top 200 chart. The sound was unique -- raw and intense rock and roll steeped in the roots of Texas blues, but still radio-friendly and widely appealing. The group toured heavily after the album and on Tuesday, June 9, 1992, the Arc Angels made their network television debut on the NBC show " The Late Show with David Letterman" where they performed "Living In A Dream". On Wednesday, January 6, 1993, they again performed on Letterman's show, this time playing "Too Many Ways to Fall". It seemed that this Texas quartet was poised to explode onto the national scene.
But their name proved a harbinger of things to come; The Arc Angels fell as quickly as they rose. Creative differences, heavy touring, and Bramhall's admitted descent into a deep and nearly deadly heroin addiction caused the breakup of the band in 1994. The Arc Angels came to an abrupt halt in October of that year with a series of farewell concerts at Austin's Backyard outdoor venue.
They each followed their individual paths from there. Bramhall went on to solo projects as well as touring with Roger Waters and Eric Clapton's band. Sexton made two critically acclaimed solo albums, toured with Bob Dylan, and has produced numerous high profile artist projects. Meanwhile, Layton recorded three albums with the Texas soul quintet Storyville and has backed such artists as Buddy Guy and John Mayer.
Nearly fifteen years after headlining the Austin City Limits Festival, the Arc Angels have decided to reunite and record new music, as well as release a Live DVD/CD. This time, the band consists of original members Bramhall, Sexton and Layton only.
"Charlie and I started to write together again and decided that we should get the band back together. The chemistry that we all have together is one entity and it's something very real. It's fun," said Bramhall. “We’re trying to take advantage and savor the good things and one of the good things is the Arc Angels,” added Charlie Sexton.
The launch of their new music and live tour will be at Austin's annual South by Southwest Music Festival in March 2009. Following that, they will open for Eric Clapton on his European tour in May, and then embark on their own U.S. tour this summer. “The stars kind of aligned once again. The band's back together and we're doing some new things," said Layton.
I got my combo yesterday and it was OUTSTANDING!!! Since the vinyl albums I didn't see such pretty amazing stuff like yours!!! I mean: it isn't a big label with lots of money and you guys aren't in the mainstream... The box is unbelievable!!!
The Show @ Stubb's is pretty lovely with perfect performance in all the songs, those psychedelic effects are amazing and what beautiful images @ background!!! The documentary is precious and the Antone's tribute is well deserved... BTW: I loved the references to Stevie in the music, in the talk about him and his images... "Dimples" is adorable...
I'm listen to the new songs right now and it's really special!!! "What I'm Looking For" is something!!! "Crave And Wonder" and "Too Many People" are wonderful... Later I will do it to Live @ Stubb's CD... Time to work to me...
Thank you for the really special gift to us, guys... Loads of love and peace ::::~~~~
WoW....It arrived 2 days ago...I've had it playing non-stop :) I'm still smiling...I LOVE IT, THANKS you guys...!!!! You did a great job, great work..!! :)
the DVD/CD is WICKED guys!!!!! looove that you placed it at waterloo as i have already grabbed up a couple today for christmas gifts *_~ one is going to wales to a massive fan!!! cheers to a brilliant DVD and the new tunes!!!
Just got the CD/DVD today....I just got one thing to say...She's All Right! Worth the price of admission for that performance alone! Floored me like the first time I heard "Machine Gun" ,... incredible! Doin' Muddy proud!
Guys, i received my package yesterday. Thank you so much for all the efforts. It feels like a wonderfull present. More than ever i wanna see you guys performing alive again!!!! I love everything of it, the show at Stubbs, the documentary part, the cd with the new studio tracks!!!!!All of this stuff is taking over my place, because nothing else matters anymore, except enjoying this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love and greetings from Holland
