Scene · 1995–2010
Emery
Emery left South Carolina for Seattle on 11 September 2001. They became Tooth & Nail emo regulars, from The Weak's End to running their own label.
Emery formed in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 2001. The name came from a first grader singer Toby Morrell met while he was interning for a teacher in college.
South Carolina to Seattle
Morrell, Devin Shelton, Matt Carter and Joel "Chopper" Green packed up and left Rock Hill for Seattle on 11 September 2001. They found out about the attacks at a Cracker Barrel in North Carolina. Drummer Seth Studley, another original member, followed them west a little later, and Shelton moved from drums to guitar. Morrell sang and played guitar, and Carter played guitar and keys.
In 2002 they signed with Seattle's Tooth & Nail. Their debut, The Weak's End, was produced by Ed Rose at Black Lodge Studio in Eudora, Kansas, and came out in January 2004. The band also made a video for "Walls."
The Question and the peak years
Studley left to get married. Dave Powell, who'd played in the Indianapolis metalcore band The Bowels of Judas, came in on drums after an audition on tour with Haste the Day.
The Question came out on 2 August 2005, produced by Aaron Sprinkle. "Studying Politics" was the single. Punknews.org called it a step up from the debut, with more power in the songs and much better lyrics. A deluxe reissue in November 2006 added acoustic versions, demos and a DVD.
Green was asked to leave in September 2006. After that, Morrell and Shelton split bass duties, with whoever wasn't singing lead on a song playing bass. I'm Only a Man (2007) drew mixed reviews. ...In Shallow Seas We Sail followed in 2009 after the band re-signed with Tooth & Nail, and "Cutthroat Collapse" was its first video.
Going independent
We Do What We Want came out in March 2011 on both Tooth & Nail and its heavy imprint, Solid State, to suit a heavier sound. Morrell called it the band's most personal and spiritual album. Shelton went on an indefinite hiatus that year. He's since come back and is now in his third stint with the band.
In 2013 Emery left Tooth & Nail and started its own label, BadChristian. It grew out of a blog run by Morrell, Carter and pastor Joey Svendsen. You Were Never Alone was crowdfunded and released in May 2015. It reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart and No. 69 on the Billboard 200. Eve (2018), White Line Fever (2020) and Rub Some Dirt on It (2022, back on Tooth & Nail) followed. White Line Fever goes back to the day they left for Seattle. As of 2026 the band has ten studio albums.
Faith
Emery isn't usually labeled a Christian band, but the members are Christians, and their lyrics often wrestle with faith and doubt. Talking about We Do What We Want, Morrell said some songs are "about challenging authority and God, and is God real, and what that even means."
Where they sit in the scene
Emery is the bridge between Tooth & Nail's emo side and its heavier one. Two lead voices, screams saved for impact and pop hooks kept the songs closer to emo than metalcore. Tours with Underoath and Haste the Day kept them in front of heavier crowds.
