Pop-country trio Love and Theft fell into place in Nashville when singers and songwriters Eric Gunderson, Stephen Barker Liles, and Brian Bandas threw in together, taking turns singing lead while the other two sang gorgeous backing harmonies. Versatile, bright-sounding, and with a clear sense of pop-country arrangement, Love and Theft's live shows brought them an enthusiastic fan base. Working with producers Jeff Coplan and Robert Ellis Orrall, the trio released its debut album, World Wide Open, on CarolWood Records in mid-2009. Bandas left the band in 2011, and it was as a duo of Gunderson and Liles that Love and Theft was signed to RCA Nashville later that same year. A second album, simply called Love and Theft, then appeared from RCA in 2012.