Longsleeves, initially a solo venture by James Musselman, has come to also include the incredible musical talents and songwriting craft of Ben Laatsch as well.

Laatsch and Musselman met in the quiet farming town of Huntington, Indiana doing open mics together at a local coffee house. As Musselman put it in an interview with a local newspaper,

“We discovered our weaknesses and strength are inverse to each other,” Musselman says. “We balance each other well. It’s a really organic, natural thing to be playing together. And we share similar ideas about the effect of music on people and how it’s important in our culture and our society.”

After Musselman relocated to San Diego, California and Laatsch made the same leap across the United States, they began recording and then performing together under the moniker as a two piece band with programmed drums to round out their sound.

They currently perform shows locally in San Diego, up the Pacific coast as well as several tours back in the great lakes region.

Laatsch is also an active solo musician and touring guitarist in his own right. More on his work and music can be found over at Sixty Years War Collective. Make sure to check it out!