The first group to join Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz's newly formed label in 2002, Blacktop Mourning has had the "success" label under their belts at the onset of their career.Guitar prodigy Max Steger formed Blacktop Mourning after writing and performing in New York. At only 12 years old, Steger was jamming in some of Chicago's legendary blues clubs like Kingston Mines and Buddy Guy's Legends, before catching the attention of Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records. Ertegun's priceless advice led Steger to seek a punk-pop group where he could hone his craft. He has shared the stage with Grammy winners Los Lonely Boys and punk rockers Sum 41, and son brought aboard bassist Joe Levand, drummer Jon Meredith and vocalist Marty James Abezetian to form Blacktop Mourning. These Chicago natives came together in 2004, and performed at local gigs while recording their debut album, produced by Doug McBride, who has worked other punk-pop teams like Fall Out Boy and Veruca Salt. Their self-released album came out in 2006, first featured on their MySpace site. With the release of this album, the group also saw the addition of rhythm guitarist Shawn Nystrand and bassist/keyboardist Sammy Kordys. When Abezetian left the group, Levand assumed the lead vocal role, and the crew found success when MTV approached them about a contract deal. The television station featured their songs in 11 of their shows. "As Time Crawls By," and "Hardly Recognize," were featured in an episode of Meet the Barkers, a reality show that followed Blink 182's Travis Barker and wife around. By the end of 2002, the group was stronger and found MySpace's interactive page a positive, as Duritz approached the group about a recording deal. With Tyrannosaurs Records (aka T Recs), they created their sophomore effort, No Regret, which was released in May 2007.The group has since found a spot between similar emo pop groups that have a punk slash rock ‘n' roll soul.