Piebald

In 1994 the emocore outfit Piebald came together while vocalist/guitarist Travis Shettel, guitarist Aaron Stuart, bassist Andrew Bonner, and drummer Jon Sullivan were still enrolled at high school in suburban Andover, Massachusetts. A few years afterward Sullivan departed; Alex Garcia Rivera briefly took over the drums before Luke Garro settled into the role permanently. The group soon became a fixture on the Boston-area indie scene and issued its debut album, When Life Hands You Lemons, through Hydra Head Records in 1997. Two years later the band returned with If It Weren't for Venetian Blinds It Would Be Curtains for Us All, an album that underscored its lighthearted approach to emo themes, complete with tracks such as "Fat and Skinny Asses." The EP The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised surfaced in 2000, after which Piebald amicably disbanded so its members could pursue lives beyond music.

The next year Boston imprint Big Wheel Recreation brought out the dual-disc retrospective Barely Legal/All Ages, assembling early, rough recordings that spanned the members' high-school period through the 1997 debut and also incorporated every 7" EP from Piebald's formative years, assorted demos, live performances—including a high-energy rendition of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There"—and previously unavailable cuts. During the hiatus Shettel released a solo album under the project name Totally Travis. The separation proved short-lived; in 2002 Piebald reemerged with We Are the Only Friends We Have, a record that balanced playful energy with greater maturity and was warmly received by listeners and reviewers. One track from the album, "American Hearts," received modest MTV exposure and was later sampled by MC Lars for his emo-laptop-rap single "iGeneration." The period marked an unusual run of good fortune, yet it was interrupted when Shettel required throat surgery. The medical issue forced the cancellation of several concerts, including dates supporting Dashboard Confessional, but recovery took only a few months. Once healed, Piebald resumed touring, this time as headliners accompanied by My Chemical Romance, Minus the Bear, and Fairweather. Early in 2004 the band signed with the California-based indie label SideOneDummy, and its next album, All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time, appeared that May. While supporting Hot Rod Circuit in late 2005 and traveling in a newly acquired van fueled by vegetable oil, the band saw the release of the CD/DVD B-sides collection Killa Bros and Killa Bees. Piebald's subsequent full-length, Accidental Gentlemen, reached stores in January 2007.