Tom Higgenson (b. Thomas John Higgenson, USA; vocals), Ken Fletcher (bass) and Dave Tirio (b. 28 October 1979, USA; drums) formed this Illinois, USA-based pop punk band in 1997. Higgenson and Fletcher had previously played together in the Villa Park-based high school band Harvey’s Daughter. The band spent the next three years playing local gigs and developing its sound, although this fledgling career was almost curtailed when Higgenson suffered a near fatal car accident in summer 1999. By this point Steve Mast (guitar/vocals) had joined the line-up and it was as a trio that the Plain White T’s made their recording debut with 2001’s independently distributed Come On Over and the following year’s Stop. These rudimentary but enjoyable pop punk collections were successful enough to facilitate a recording contract with Californian punk label Fearless Records, who re-released Stop in late 2002.
Line-up changes ensued, with Mast and Fletcher departing and Mike Retondo (b. Michael Retondo, 1981, USA; bass), De’Mar Hamilton (b. 15 April 1984, USA; drums) and Tim Lopez (b. USA; guitar) joining Higgenson and Tirio, with the latter switching from drums to guitar. The new-look quintet began to make a name for itself on the US festival circuit and by now had matured into a far more cohesive outfit. Released in 2005, All That We Needed was the band’s most successful album to date, with extensive radio rotation for the wistful ballad ‘Hey There Delilah’, leading to its release as a single and an eventual climb up the mainstream pop charts to the number 1 slot over two years later. The six-track Hey There Delilah EP featured the single alongside a number of new songs and re-recordings. The band’s fourth album, Every Second Counts, gained wider distribution via the Hollywood Records label.
