Arc Angels is a

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

supergroup formed in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

in the early 1990s. The band came together after the death of

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

and was composed of Vaughan’s friends Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton and two of the band members from Vaughan’s band Double Trouble, drummer Chris Layton and bassist

Tommy Shannon Tommy Shannon (born Thomas Lafitte Smedley; April 18, 1946) is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon mov ...

. (Shannon has not been part of the group since 2010.) The 'Arc' in the band's name came from the Austin Rehearsal Complex where the band first started jamming.

History

'' Arc Angels'', their 1992 debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, met with critical approval and reached No.127 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. The band made its network television debut on ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' on June 9, 1992, performing "Living In A Dream." Arc Angels played Letterman again on January 6, 1993, with "Too Many Ways to Fall." Bramhall's heroin addiction as well as internal friction caused the breakup of the band in 1993. The Arc Angels broke up in October of that year after concluding with a series of farewell concerts at Austin's Backyard Outdoor Venue. The band reunited for occasional live performances beginning in 2002. In recent years, Bramhall played guitar and toured with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

's band as well as

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

. Charlie Sexton toured with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. Layton and Shannon have recorded three albums with the Texas soul quintet Storyville. The duo has also backed such artists as

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenneth Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues rock artist. Early life Shepherd was born in Shrevepo ...

and

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

. The members of Arc Angels (minus Shannon) announced that they would be reuniting in March 2009, releasing a live album and DVD of a concert from 2005, touring extensively and beginning work on their second album. The album/DVD '' Living in a Dream'' was released in 2009. It contained live renditions of previously released Arc Angels songs, new songs performed live, and three new studio tracks. The launch of the Angels tour took place at Austin's annual

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Festival. Although the band never officially broke up again, members pursued solo projects and no talks about future Arc Angels releases or concerts have taken place to date. While on stage in 2014, Bramhall referred to the Arc Angels as "this band I was in" further confirming their demise. As of 2022, the band is performing once again with shows throughout the year.

Members

Current members

* Doyle Bramhall II - guitar, vocals (1990-1993, 2005-2010, 2022-Present) * Charlie Sexton - guitar, vocals (1990-1993, 2005-2010, 2022-Present) * Chris Layton - drums (1990-1993, 2005-2010, 2022-Present)

Former Members

- bass (1990-1993, 2005-2009)

Touring Members

*Dave Monsey, aka "Mark Newmark" - bass (2009-2010). Dave reportedly used an alias during the tour to avoid a contract violation *Eric Holden - bass (2022–Present)

Discography

*'' Arc Angels'' (

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

, 1992) US No. 127 *'' Living in a Dream'' CD/DVD (2009)

References

External links

*
ARC Angels MySpace Site

Arcangels.nl
{{Authority control American blues rock musical groups Blues music supergroups American rock music supergroups Rock music groups from Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas 1990 establishments in Texas