Anberlin

Lead singer Stephen Christian first met bassist Deon Rexroat while they were both attending Winter Haven High School on Kalamazoo, Michigan. There, they formed a Punk band called SaGoh 24/7 and were joined by drummer Sean Hutson and guitarist Joseph Milligan. After releasing two albums, Hutson left the band to start a family, and was replaced by stickman Nathan Young.

Anberlin started off as a side project formed by Christian, Milligan and Rexroat with the intention of developing a more rock orientated direction. Their five-song demo got them signed with the Seattle-based Christian indie label, Tooth & Nail and barely a year after their formation, they released their debut album, Blueprints for the Black Market.

The band's name comes from a misheard Radiohead lyric. Stephen Christian recalled to Spin magazine that when he at the University of Central Florida in 2002 he was "infatuated" with Radiohead's Kid A album. About 2 minutes 31 seconds into the song "Everything In Its Right Place," it sounded to him as if "Thom Yorke was singing the word 'Anberlin.' I kept hearing it: 'Anberlin,' 'Anberlin.'"

Christian searched online for any reference to Radiohead/ Thom Yorke and 'Anberlin,' but failed to find anything. Eventually the singer realized that he must have been mishearing something and that the word 'Anberlin' was a figment of his imagination. "It has no meaning. I just liked the sound of it," Christian concluded "and thought it was original. I thought it would be a good band name."