Black Maria

Toronto's the Black Maria came together in 2002, its lineup featuring Chris Gray on vocals, Kyle Bishop handling guitar and vocals, Mike de Eyre on bass and keyboards, Alan Nacinovic on guitar, and Derek Petrella behind the drums. The melodic rock outfit took its name from the police vans of the early twentieth century and included former members of Grade, Zyon, and New Day Rising. Victory Records added the band to its roster in 2004 once label head Tony Brummel received an invitation from Bishop, whose prior group Grade had previously worked with the imprint. Work on the debut began during summer 2004 under producer Mike Green, whose credits already included Yellowcard and the Matches. Lead Us to Reason reached stores in January 2005, after which the Black Maria toured extensively across North America and the United Kingdom with Sum 41, Rise Against, Chevelle, and Atreyu. Personnel shifts followed: in August 2005 Theo McKibbon, formerly of Far from Heroes, took over drums from Petrella, and when Bishop departed that December, Scott Swain—also an alumnus of Far from Heroes—stepped in on guitar. Early 2006 found the group back in the studio with Green to track its sophomore effort. Drawing the title from a line in the HBO series Six Feet Under that seemed to capture the band’s own journey, the darkly explosive A Shared History of Tragedy arrived that September.