Biography
Indie rock outfit Ha Ha Tonka originated in Springfield, Missouri, during 2004, with Brian Roberts handling vocals and guitar alongside Lucas Long on bass and vocals, Brett Anderson contributing keyboards, guitar, and vocals, and Lennon Bone on drums and vocals. Their initial release under the Ha Ha Tonka name, Buckle in the Bible Belt, actually served as a reissue of material first put out when the musicians performed as Amsterband. In that earlier incarnation they issued the debut CD Beatchen and maintained a heavy touring schedule. A second self-released effort, again titled Buckle in the Bible Belt, arrived in 2006. The following year the group inked a deal with Chicago’s independent Bloodshot Records and adopted their current moniker, drawn from a state park located in the Ozark Mountains of southwestern Missouri. Bloodshot then reissued Buckle in the Bible Belt on September 11, 2007, while the quartet toured the Midwest. The 2009 album Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South earned widespread critical acclaim, after which Death of a Decade, helmed by producers Kevin McMahon and the Ryantist, surfaced in 2011. The lightly orchestrated and impressive Lessons reached listeners in fall 2013. Ha Ha Tonka’s fifth full-length, Heart-Shaped Mountain, appeared in 2017; by that point Lennon Bone had departed and Mike Reilly, previously of Hoots & Hellmouth, had joined on drums. Multi-instrumentalist James Cleare, whose résumé includes work with the Spring Standard, also came aboard. Chris Mason eventually took over the drum chair, and the self-released BloodRedMoon emerged in 2023.