A Thorn for Every Heart

Rock outfit A Thorn for Every Heart formed in Chino Hills, CA, during the summer of 2003 around vocalist Kelvin Cruz, vocalist/guitarist Jeff Harber, guitarist/vocalist Joel Holt, and bassist Justin Powell. By the year's end, the band had self-recorded and released the seven-song EP Silence Is Golden, which created a healthy word-of-mouth buzz on the Internet. Their energetic live show quickly helped to foster a local following as well, and the EP's several thousand copies were all sold out by the first half of 2004. Having caught the attention of Kickball Records along the way (and after replacing Holt with Phil Nguyen), the band inked a deal with the label that spring. A spot at New Jersey's Skate and Surf Fest and a handful of Warped Tour dates kept momentum building into the fall 2004 release of their debut full-length, Things Aren't So Beautiful Now. The album proved to be a melodic blend of screamo and rock that incorporated less violin parts than their earlier songs. Touring continued without much rest before A Thorn for Every Heart entered the studio in January 2006 with producer Matt Squire (Panic! at the Disco, Northstar) to begin work on their follow-up. The band's resulting sophomore effort, It's Hard to Move You, was due to appear in 2007 but was shelved when Kickball was dissolved by parent label Interscope. The now label-less band slowly regrouped (minus Jeff Harber, who was replaced by Casey Hill) and self-released the Pick Up The Pieces EP in late 2008. After more lineup changes and legal woes, the band went on hiatus in 2009. ~ Corey Apar