Copeland is an American Pop/alternative band, originally formed in 2000 by singer Aaron Marsh (who also plays the guitar, mellotron, organ, and piano) with his friend, bassist and backup singer James Likeness, in the city of Lakeland, Florida. Aaron Marsh attended a performing arts high school, Harrison Arts Center. Bryan Laurenson, guitarist, and Jonathan Bucklew, drummer (who took the place of Rusty, ex-drummer of Copeland and drummer on Beneath Medicine Tree) give the band an original sound. In 2002, they signed a record deal with independent label The Militia Group and released their debut album Beneath Medicine Tree a year later. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 they performed at the annual Cornerstone Florida Festival in Orlando, Florida. In Motion, Copeland's second full length CD, was released on March 22, 2005. It was produced by Matt Goldman and Aaron Marsh, and mixed by Ken Andrews. The early copies of In Motion that were issued, included a four-song acoustic ep––a compilation of lo-fi versions of songs from In Motion itself, as well as Beneath Medicine Tree.
Columbia Records announced their signing of Copeland in a press release dated November 14, 2006.
Beneath Medicine Tree features a heavy medical theme. Aaron Marsh admits that the lyrics in this album were inspired by the hospitalization of his girlfriend and the death of his grandmother. The album booklet includes photographs by then-bassist James Likeness of hospital scenes. Marsh cites that, "With Beneath Medicine Tree, I wanted to make a record that moves people," while "With In Motion, I wanted to make a record that makes people move."
Lead singer Aaron Marsh has also lent his voice to other bands such as Underoath on their album They're Only Chasing Safety, Anberlin on Cities and Lydia on Illuminate.
On July 18, 2007 James made public his decision to no longer be a part of Copeland. He cited pursuing a career as a graphic designer (a field in which he has a college degree) as a chief reason in his decision to leave the band.
As of September 6, 2007, Copeland announced that they had officially split ways with Columbia Records.
About a year after ESR they released a B-side album entitled Dressed Up & In Line. It was released on November 20, 2007 and is composed of B-sides, remixes, and a few new songs as well.
Although stated by some to be a Christian band, Aaron Marsh has said that they are not. "I think that's kind of a defective term," Marsh says. "It's not our nature to have religious connotations. We are not a ministry band. We have some people in the band that are Christian, but that is not the focus of our band" and "We have no agenda in our band other than art." Copeland are signed with Tooth & Nail Records, which signs almost exclusively with Christian bands.
On October 29th, 2009, Copeland released an official statement that after a farewell tour in the spring, they would be ending Copeland. They made it clear that it was not a bitter break up, they had just run their course as Copeland. They did say that there could possibly be one last studio album, but the spring tour would be their last.
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