An enigmatic figure on the Memphis music scene, Harlan T. Bobo is a vocalist, songwriter, and arranger whose songs are obsessively personal, often dealing with the peaks and valleys of his love life. Bobo's confessional lyrics are usually married to polished, classically melodic music that blends elements of vintage pop and countrypolitan, though he sometimes veers into chaotic rock & roll. Bobo is more than willing to bare his soul, but he's more than vague about his personal history: he's never revealed his real name or the details of his early life, and he sometimes performs wearing masks or heavy makeup. Despite (or perhaps because) of the mystery surrounding him, a cult following rose around Bobo following the release of his 2006 debut, Too Much Love. The themes of heartbreak that dominated that album and 2007's I'm Your Man were countered by 2010's Sucker, a chronicle of a happier romance. After an eight-year layoff, 2018's A History of Violence documented Bobo's divorce with the darkest, noisiest music of his life.

No one is sure exactly when Harlan T. Bobo was born (in 2009, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported his age as 42), but he has acknowledged his birthplace was Dayton, Ohio. Bobo reportedly lived a nomadic life before he settled in Memphis, Tennessee, where he first made an impression on the local music scene in the early 2000s, playing bass with the glam punk project American Death Ray and the eccentric children's music combo the Luv Clowns. While the Memphis underground community was dominated by raw blues-punk groups like the Oblivians, Bobo's solo debut, 2006's Too Much Love, made clear that he was following a different path, with a more refined, artful approach to both his songwriting and his arrangements, which sometimes included horns and strings. Bobo's live performances often featured idiosyncratic set decoration designed by the singer, while he sometimes wore makeup or masks rather than reveal his face to the audience. Too Much Love was a hit with critics, and Bobo struck up a deal with Memphis indie label Goner Records to issue his second full-length, I'm Your Man, another inward-looking breakup album. (Goner would also reissue Too Much Love.) In addition to recording his own music, Bobo provided string arrangements for Cat Power's 2006 album, The Greatest, and contributed to the soundtrack of the film My Blueberry Nights, which starred Norah Jones. In 2009, Bobo gained national TV exposure when he was featured in an episode of the MTV reality series $5 Cover. Bobo also sat in on sessions with the Limes, Jack-O the Tearjerkers, and King Louie His Loose Diamonds, but he began spending more time in Europe after he became enamored with a woman from France. This romance informed Bobo's third album, Sucker, which arrived in 2010.

After the release of Sucker, Bobo began an ambitious collaboration with members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra called Opus One, with a chamber-sized edition of the MSO accompanying Bobo for a series of concerts dominated by his songs. In 2011, Bobo joined Jack Oblivian and the Limes for a "Memphis Revue" tour of Europe, playing 40 shows throughout the continent. By this time, Bobo was spending most of his time in France, and while he returned to Memphis occasionally and released an album with his garage punk side project the Fuzz in 2013, for the most part he stepped away from recording. Bobo lived in France, where he played occasional live shows but primarily supported himself by building furniture and running an ice cream shop with his spouse. In time, Bobo's marriage turned sour, and he began writing a set of songs that reflected the chaotic state of his life. Bobo tried recording the songs with a group of French musicians, but he was unhappy with the results, and opted to return to Memphis, where he recruited a band of local scene veterans and knocked out an album in two recording sessions. Bobo's fourth album, A History of Violence, was darker and more aggressive than his previous recordings. Bobo and his band from the History of Violence sessions set out to play shows in support of the release, though the singer continued to make France his home base to be close to his son. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi