Live

The alt-rock band Live formed in York, Pennsylvania, a semi-industrial town that's home to the Harley-Davidson motorcycle factory. It's also the subject of their songs "Sh-t Towne" and "Pillar Of Davidson."

Live started out as an instrumental trio called First Aid, made up of middle school pals, Chad Gracey (drums), Chad Taylor (guitar), and Patrick Dahlheimer (bass). Shortly after, they added Ed Kowalczyk as their lead singer and changed their name to Public Affection. Their early repertoire was mostly covers of New Wave songs.

Their first release as Live was the 1991 album Mental Jewelry, which was largely inspired by the works of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Kowalczyk was particularly interested in Eastern religions, which influenced a lot of his lyrical concepts.