b. 17 March 1965, Springfield, Illinois, USA. One of several old-fashioned style honky-tonk musicians to emerge on the US scene in the new millennium, this San Francisco, California, USA-based singer-songwriter’s recreation of the sound of late 50s/early 60s country music is so heartfelt that it manages to avoid pastiche. Armstrong learned to play the guitar in his early teens and began playing in rock bands at high school. In 1984, he joined the Des Moines, Iowa-based indie rock outfit the Hollowmen, going on to make two unsuccessful records with them during the late 80s. Following a short stint at art school, Armstrong resurrected his music career in the mid-90s by reinventing himself as a traditional honky-tonk artist. His debut, Sings Heart Songs, recorded in 1996 but not released until three years later, was a charming collection of self-written material that with little difficulty could be listened to as a lost recording session by a legendary honky-tonk singer such as Lefty Frizzell or Ray Price. Indeed, the retro cover art was a near identical copy of a Price album also called Sings Heart Songs. The album and its equally beguiling follow-up, Songs That Make The Juke Box Play, received excellent reviews in both the independent and mainstream press.