The Last Goodnight

It's difficult to pigeonhole the Last Goodnight as a band that fits into a specific genre unless it's one as broad as pop/rock, even if they do look like your typical emo group. Originally coming together while attending Enfield High in Connecticut, the band — Kurtis John (vocals, piano), Mike Nadeau (lead guitar), Anton Yurack (guitar, keys, vocals), Leif Christensen (bass), and Larone McMillan (drums) — started concocting traditionally structured songs that could have easily come out of the catalogs of Elton John and Supertramp. After they graduated and went off to college in 2003, they independently pressed two releases under the moniker Renata and started receiving airplay. In typical band fashion, they bought a van and embarked on short tours on nights and weekends, eventually earning opening slots for Lifehouse and Avril Lavigne. After a name change, a gig at the famous Whisky A Go Go in L.A. caught the attention of producer Jeff Blue, who took them into the studio to start recording and fine-tuning their sound. In 2007, Virgin signed the Last Goodnight and released their debut, Poison Kiss, in August of that year.