It all started in a undergrad party at Georgetown University in 1991...

In a weekly gig in a local club, Keith Kane was providing free music for a party with his acoustic guitar. It so happens that Matt Scanell, a former member of an electric band called Fallout Shelter, was also there at the party. After his song, Keith asked Matt to take his turn. He played "All Along the Watchtower" and impressed everyone. A week later, Vertical Horizon made their debut as an acoustic duo.

A year later, they both graduated from Georgetown and returned to their New England roots. They spent their first summer out of college at Cape Cod, where Matt became a waiter and Keith worked at a golf course. They also played at the Cape three times a week, for what sometimes amounted to beer and peanuts. By the end of the summer, they had saved snough money from their menial day jobs and live gigs to produce their own album. Thus came "There & Back Again," Vertical Horizon's first album which was recorded in Matt's old high school.

The low-key acoustic album, which started out with an initial run of 1,000, remarkably went on to sell over 20,000 copies. They returned to Washington DC where they already had a strong following. They met up there with Jackopierce who offered them a two-week tour support plot. Since then, Vertical Horizon toured from coast to coast and shared the stage with bands including Huey Lewis and the Allman Brothers Band.

As "There & Back Again" received continuous success, the duo decided to expand their sound. For their follow-up effort in 1995, they recorded "Running on Ice" with Dave Matthews Band's drummer Carter Beauford and bass player Ryan Fisher as additional accompaniment. With help from Jackopierce friends and others, the album continued Vertical Horizon's honest, acoustic-based music.

Then came Ed Toth, the next addition to the group. He came in touch with the group after helping Matt's mom find a Vertical Horizon cd at Borders Music and Books where he was working then. After Ed and his boss' gracious help to Mrs. Scanell, Matt called the store and offered to put Ed's boss and a friend on a guest list to a show that night in Boston. And so the two lucky guys went to the VH gig, and Ed was impressed with the group. When the band's drummer left, Ed took the chance to audition. The word is, he blew them away!

In 1997, they released "Live Stages," an LP which consisted of a live performance from a concert in Ziggy's in North Carolina. After a year of touring, bassist Sean Hurley joined the band. He was the first person to audition for the part, and though he clicked immediately with the group, VH had to listen to all the other aspiring applicants. But as they auditioned more and more bass players, they kept on comparing them back to Sean, who was the perfect fit after all.

"Live Stages" did not only prove to be just a great memento for fans, or a chance to revisit favorites like "The Man Who Would be Santa." It was a perfect calling card for record labels. Shortly afterwards, they signed a major label deal with RCA Records in 1999.

The band experienced the peak of their success with "Everything You Want." Although the 1999-released album lacked the acoustic charm of their earlier work, it proved to a slow-burning commercial success with its first single "Everything You Want." The new album continued the band's progression towards an edgier, electric, full-band style of music. Still, their focus has remained on strong song writing, vocal harmonies and impressive guitar work. It immediately rocked the charts and soon "Everything You Want" gained Platinum status. Other singles like the electric sound of "You're A God" and the melancholic strum of "Best I Ever had(Grey Sky Morning)" topped the Billboard Charts for some time.

And in the meantime, Vertical Horizon has yet to come up with another album which would rock the music world.