Band of Horses is characterized as indie rock, overlapping with alternative country and southern rock. Band of Horses relocated to founder Bridwell's home state South Carolina around the time of their debut release. Associated acts include Carissa's Weird and Grand Archives. Current band members are: Ben Bridwell, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey, Bill Reynolds and Creighton Barrett. Bridwell, the lead vocalist, is often compared to Neil Young for that high register virtuoso quality of his voice. He often carries a note unaccompanied by music or with minimal music to support. The songs by Band of Horses often highlight the vocal element as an instrument, raising the bar musically.

Their full-length debut recording Everything All the Time came out in 2006 and received high ratings and great reviews. In October 2007, they recorded a second album Cease to Begin, in North Carolina. Magazine Paste ranked Cease to Begin as one of the ten best albums of the year 2007. In 2008, Band of Horses performed at Bridge School Benefit concert. Band of Horses has had appearances on a wide range of popular media such as television, video games, movies and commercials. Their atmospheric song "The Funeral" was part of a television commercial for SUVs. Recently Band of Horses was part of a Ford advertisement for their new SYNC voice recognition audio control system. They also appeared in the trailer for the movie Penelope in 2006 and Assassination of a High School President in 2009. There is a long list of television shows on which they have made an appearance. CSI, Criminal Minds, One Tree Hill, The Best Years, Kyle XY and Numb3rs are among them.

Band of Horses appears on Fully Flared, a skateboarding video, as well as on the video game Skate. The song "No one's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses was played during the first season of Chuck, the season finale of both 90210 and Numb3rs. Kid Cudi sampled them in their song "The Prayer." "The General Specific" by Band of Horses was played on the episode titled "Roman Holiday" of Gossip Girl.

Band of Horses participated in the famed Glastonbury Festival as well as the Roskilde Festival on their tour of Europe. Band of Horses is reported to have announced to Rolling Stone magazine in 2008 the plans to record their third album in the coming months. Bridwell had decided on some twenty-seven songs to be included in the upcoming compilation. The band recorded the new album Night Rainbows in May 2009. Band of Horses promoted Night Rainbows during their 2009 summer tour, performing many of the songs from the album.