San Diego-based (Temecula, actually) War Stories are an aptly named group, since the bandmembers gathered their own war stories of life on a major label shortly after coming together. The band grew out of a friendship between singer and keyboardist Evan Robinson and guitarist Reid Curby, who met and traded music demos while working as waiters at a Temecula inn. They officially joined forces in 2004, found a rhythm section, and began playing local gigs, quickly drawing attention from several major labels. Calling itself Onethousand Pictures, the band signed with Velvet Hammer, a Columbia Records partner, and recorded an album. The group used a session drummer for the project, but added Svend Lercke behind the drum kit before heading out on a spotlight tour with the band Kasabian. Two months before the album was scheduled to come out, Onethousand Pictures were unceremoniously dropped by Velvet Hammer, leaving the album (and everything else) in limbo. The band rethought, regrouped, added new bass player Paul Lizarraga, changed its name to War Stories, and then rose from the ashes to re-record some of the tracks from the aborted album, add in some new songs, and release it on their own as the self-titled War Stories in 2008. ~ Steve Leggett