At just 20 years old, Gilbertson has already impressed with his penchant for timeless power-pop hooks, inviting comparisons to the likes of Pinback, Modest Mouse, and the Weakerthans. The product of a musical family- mom plays piano, dad plays guitar, his sister is a music teacher, one brother is a drummer and the other plays guitar-Gilbertson's musical precociousness manifested itself early. He began playing guitar at age 8 and eventually worked his way through numerous high school bands. In 2005 Gilbertson set down a five song demo in his brother's Spruce Grove basement studio which led to a Craigslist rendezvous with Vancouver producer Andrew Shaw. Gilbertson and Shaw worked through the summer of 2006, eventually coming away with an 11-song LP. After months of shopping the album around, Gilbertson caught the ears of local label Pop Echo, who were as impressed by the young troubadour's crunchy pop ditties as they were by his maturity and ambition.