Jacob Aranda is a Mexican American Bay Area singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, luthier and member of Bay Area psych-folk group Tarnation and 'War Planes' is his second solo-album. Aranda went into the studio listening to a lot of early Waylon Jennings and Gene Clark. Ultimately, the vulnerability and softness of the songs, as well as the influence of Tarnation-colleague Paula Frazer and producer Desmond Shea, steered the album away from its country influences into a more psychedelic, ethereal space. Ry Cooder's 'Paris, Texas' soundtrack and Cowboy Junkies' 'Trinity Sessions' were the two most influential albums of Aranda's youth.