After establishing the Fire Station recording studio in San Marcos, Texas, country singer and songwriter Lucky Tomblin stepped away from live work, yet his friend Doug Sahm persuaded him to reenter the scene in the early 2000s. Tomblin first assembled Lucky 13 and then, in 2003, launched the Lucky Tomblin Band to concentrate on Western swing and honky-tonk country. The lineup brought together seasoned players: pianist Earl Poole Ball, who had spent two decades accompanying Johnny Cash; guitarist Redd Volkaert, formerly of Merle Haggard’s road group the Strangers and a solo recording artist who also maintains the side project HeyBale with Ball; bassist Sarah Brown, a sought-after session and touring musician whose résumé includes Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, James Cotton, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Raitt, and Dave Alvin; drummer Jon Hahn, whose credits encompass the Flatlanders, Rosie Flores, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and additional artists; and guitarist Bobby Arnold, primarily recognized for engineering sessions at the Fire Station for Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, and Neil Young. As a six-piece unit the band issued its self-titled debut album in 2003. Tomblin later expanded the group to seven members by adding guitarist John Reed, widely noted for his ties to the Flatlanders and their individual principals Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock. Subsequent releases followed with In a Honky-Tonk Mood (2006), Red Hot from Blue Rock (2007), and Honky Tonk Merry Go Round (2010).
