For Matt Ragland, primary songwriter and acoustic guitarist, the release of their debut album, nelo, was a dream nearly 10 years in the making; going all the way back to when he first picked up an acoustic guitar in high school. He was soon writing songs and jamming with school friends and fellow Dallas natives Stephen Goodson (electric guitar) and Chris Hill (drums). A couple of years later, while in college, Ragland was refining his songwriting and performing around Austin with singer Reid Umstattd while Goodson and Hill were perfecting their own chops studying jazz at the University of North Texas in Denton. By 2002, they all reconvened — along with another UNT alum, multi-instrumentalist Mike St. Clair (bass, trombone, trumpet), — and nelo was born.