Formed by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody as an outlet for his fascination with country music, Tired Pony began taking shape in May 2009. By October, the solo project had grown into a full-fledged supergroup featuring another Snow Patrol veteran, Iain Archer, his wife Miriam Kaufmann, producer/musician Jacknife Lee, Belle & Sebastian percussionist Richard Colburn, auxiliary R.E.M. member Scott McCaughey, and Troy Stewart. Peter Buck joined several months later, and Tired Pony traveled to Portland in early 2010 to record their debut album. Featuring guest appearances by Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, and Editors frontman Tom Smith, The Place We Ran From was finished in one week and released later that year.

The album was well received by many fans and the supergroup subsequently went on tour in both the U.K. and across America. Lightbody reassembled Tired Pony in 2012 and began writing music for their sophomore record. They retreated to Jacknife Lee's California-based home studio, where they recorded the tracks for The Ghost of the Mountain. The album arrived in 2013 and featured a small number of guest appearances, including vocalist Bronagh Gallagher and actress Minnie Driver. ~ Andrew Leahey & Scott Kerr, Rovi