emo

Bright Eyes is a band consisting mainly of American singer-songwriter/guitarist Conor Oberst. Bright Eyes also features multi-instrumentalist/producer Mike Mogis, keyboard player Nate Walcott and a rotating lineup of collaborators drawn primarily from Omaha, Nebraska, United States' indie music scene. Having been deeply influenced early on by singer-songwriters David Dondero and Simon Joyner, Conor Oberst has been recording music since the age of 13. He released his first three albums at the ages of 13, 14, 15, respectively, all under the name "Conor Oberst" and released only on cassettes.

Silverstein is a 5-piece rock band from Burlington, Ontario, Canada; formed in 2000. The band name was taken from the famous children's author Shel Silverstein. After several lineup changes, the band acquired Billy Hamilton, a local fan who learned of the band's need for a bassist on the Internet message board "The 905 Board" (an Ontario area outreach board which used to be for local musicians). In Christmas of 2001, he joined the band after Shane Told helped him learn the music for the songs. Following a rehearsal on Boxing Day (December 26) in 2001, he officially debuted with Silverstein.