Hard rockers J. Loren and Evan Johns met after Johns' producer father, Andy, heard Loren on a demo tape and was intrigued by the singer's voice. Upon hearing that Loren was looking for a drummer, Andy Johns arranged for the two young musicians to get in touch, and they quickly found that they played well together. Soon guitarist Paul Spatola and bassist Joshua Ansley joined (though Loren also plays guitar and violin for the band and Johns adds piano) and Hurt was completed. In 2006, their debut, Vol. I, came out on Capitol Records, while the following year the appropriately titled Vol. II was released.