Arrows and Anchors
| Company type | Studio album |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | July 11, 2011 |
| Founder | Fair to Midland |
| Products | Progressive rock music |
Arrows and Anchors represents the fourth and concluding studio release by the Texas-based progressive rock group Fair to Midland. The album was issued on July 11, 2011, through E1 Music in North America, with its European release occurring a day earlier under the Season of Mist label. Production, recording, and mixing duties were handled by Joe Barresi. The album achieved a peak position of No. 65 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Release and promotion
The initial single, "Musical Chairs," debuted on April 4 via ArtistDirect.com and was subsequently made available on iTunes starting April 18. Later, on May 19, the band provided "Amarillo Sleeps on My Pillow" as a complimentary download through their official website.
Reception
Upon release, the album entered the U.S. Billboard 200 at position No. 65, with first-week sales totaling approximately 7,000 copies, marking the highest chart ranking attained by the band to date.
Track list
Live renditions of "Rikki Tikki Tavi" and "Uh-Oh" were included as B-side tracks on the digital single for "Amarillo Sleeps on My Pillow."
No further tracks were recorded beyond the final listing; however, during pre-production several compositions—such as "The Dead Sea," "Ember Rose," and "Babe Ruthe" (which was later renamed "God Save Us")—were evaluated for inclusion.
Personnel
Fair to Midland
- Darroh Sudderth – lead vocals, banjo performance on "Amarillo Sleeps on My Pillow"
- Cliff Campbell – guitar
- Jon Dicken – bass guitar
- Matt Langley – keyboards and marxophone
- Brett Stowers – drums
Production
- Brian Gardner – mastering engineer
- Isaac "Eye-Sack" Flores – artwork design
- Sean Oakley – assistant engineer
- Jun Murakawa – assistant engineer
- Morgan Stratton – assistant engineer
- Joe Barresi – producer, recording engineer, mixing
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 65 |