For all the milestones--and there have been many--the magic that is Love and Theft has been most impressive on stage, in front of increasingly enthusiastic country audiences.

"We've watched it build since we first started touring," says Eric Gunderson, "and we're always thrilled and humbled by the response we get."

"It never gets old," adds Brian Bandas. "There is no feeling in the world that rivals the feeling of joining with a few thousand people to just plain have a good time."

"We all grew up dreaming of what this would be like," adds Stephen Barker Liles, "but the reality has been even better."

It's a reality they've had plenty of chances to get used to. Since Brian, Eric, and Stephen first teamed up and realized their songwriting and three-part harmonies held something special, they have been impressing an ever-widening circle. First came the friends who saw them as they got started in Nashville's smaller clubs. Then came music business insiders, whose enthusiasm led quickly to a label deal. Since then, they have gained legions of converts, both at their own shows and then as other headliners brought them on board. They hit the road first with Taylor Swift--who wrote "Hey Stephen" about Liles after touring with the trio--and most recently with Jason Aldean. They will be spending much of 2010 on the road with superstar Tim McGraw as part of his Southern Voice tour, an honor that leaves them shaking their heads.

"We're ecstatic about this amazing opportunity to tour with one of our huge influences and favorite artists of all time," says Stephen.

Whether headlining or opening, Love and Theft has swept away audiences with their soaring harmonies and on-stage charisma. Fans have stood in line for up to three hours after the show for a chance to meet the band and get an autograph. As those fans have bought their debut album, World Wide Open, and driven their breakthrough single, "Runaway," up the charts, the milestones have followed.

"Runaway" was 2009's highest-charting debut single, quickly hitting the Top 10 on both the Billboard and Mediabase country charts. It also had the year's highest first-week digital track sales for any debut country artist, scanning 19,000 paid downloads in the first six days of release. The single helped drive World Wide Open into the Top 10 on the Nielsen Soundscan Country Top 75 chart.

The group appeared on both the Today Show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, made its debut on the Grand Ole Opry, and was tapped to host the CMA Awards pre-telecast.

It has been an incredible showing by a group comprised of three equally and uniquely talented singers who share lead vocals and join for soaring three-part harmonies. The magic behind all of it has been apparent since Stephen, Eric, and Brian first sang together. During an early rehearsal, they worked up the harmonies for "Drowning," a poignant song about loss and hope.

"When all three of our voices came in together on the chorus," says Stephen, "I got chills."

"There was obvious chemistry from the beginning," adds Brian, "personality-wise and musically. The harmonies blended effortlessly and immediately. That was when we were like, 'OK. We've got something here. We need to stick with this and make it a priority."

Others quickly came on board
"We rehearsed for six months before we ever felt like we wanted to take our music out in front of people," says Stephen.

"We wanted to spend time writing music," adds Eric, "and making sure we had the right songs to showcase our vocals and make our harmonies stand out."

That approach and their undeniable talent--all three are also strong songwriters who wrote or co-wrote every song on their debut album--threw open doors that normally give way slowly in Nashville.

Their three-song showcase for representatives of the performing rights organization ASCAP ended with many in the room pulling out cell phones to tell friends at record labels, "You've got to hear this band before someone signs them!"

They spoke with several labels in Nashville, then performed a 3-song showcase in the offices of Lyric Street/Carolwood Records for A&R chief Doug Howard who immediately declared, "You should have never made it to my office...you should have already been signed! Please don't play for anyone else," and the label quickly moved to sign the band, launching them into the national spotlight.

Stephen, Eric and Brian met not long after each arrived in Nashville, and their backgrounds bonded them as strongly as their love of music. Each was born in 1984, first sang in church and developed an affinity for harmonies at a young age.

Stephen grew up in Palm Harbor, Florida, exposed to a great deal of early gospel and contemporary Christian music. He was a fan of Michael W. Smith and Elvis early on. As a teenager, he expanded his tastes to include everything from Johnny Cash to MxPx and has always loved the music of Tim McGraw and George Strait. He was on scholarship as the Head Student Assistant for the University of South Florida Men's Basketball team and intended to coach college ball after graduation. While traveling with the team he would bring his guitar and write songs, but it wasn't until reaching the state finals of the Colgate Country Showdown in his third year of college that he realized "music was where I was supposed to be." With his decision made, Stephen left college to pursue his dreams in Nashville.

Eric, raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, picked up an appreciation for Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison from his grandfather, who played banjo in bluegrass bands, and for the Eagles and Beatles from his father. He went on yearly mission trips to Romania throughout his childhood and realized early on "I didn't really want to grow up and have a normal job." He began writing songs and played in bands while at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. In Nashville, Eric got a job playing bass on a six-week college tour. When the singer dropped out at the last minute, Eric was forced to fulfill the dates, so he hired a percussionist and toured singing his own songs. That went so well he realized his days as a sideman were over.

Brian was surrounded by music from birth and comes from a long line of accomplished musicians, including a grandfather and uncle who were noted jazz players. Growing up in Austin, Texas, he started playing piano after listening to Michael W. Smith then later began playing acoustic music, writing music and eventually started his own band after hearing the Goo Goo Dolls. Both an athlete and a musician, he showed up at Tuesday night open mic nights with his basketball warm-ups on after high school games. When his parents talked to him about his options in life after his second year of college, he jumped at their mention of Nashville and took off on what he viewed as "both an adventure and a life calling."

Their obvious chemistry enabled them to forge a distinctive three-way sound.

"We consciously decided not any one of us would be the lead singer," says Eric. "We all rotate singing lead, and see where the harmonies fall most naturally. In most songs, each of us will sing a different verse or the bridge. Then, our signature is that big three-part harmony on the chorus. It doesn't really matter who's singing lead or who's singing harmony. Somehow it just works."

"Love and Theft," adds Brian, "is in this really comfortable place that lands right in the middle of all three of us and makes us all really satisfied with what we're doing."

Once they had their label deal, they signed with O-Seven Artist Management and began working with producers Robert Ellis Orral and Jeff Coplan on their debut album. In capturing the energy and incredible harmonies they bring to their live performances, the project introduces country fans to one of the freshest new acts to emerge in years. Underpinning it all is an authenticity that resonates with audiences everywhere.

"We believe," says Brian, "that the most impactful music is written from a personal place, which is the way we approach it. The priority for us is to write something people are really going to connect with. Otherwise, what's the point?"

"Lyrically," adds Eric, "we feel like rawness and authenticity is a real driving force behind this band."

"Nothing beats country songwriting," says Stephen, summing it up for his brothers-in-song. "That's as real as it gets and that's why we're here. We love what it represents and we want to carry it forward."