Complete List Of Jonny Craig Bands And Musical Projects

Feature Photo: Alex Kral, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Jonny Craig built his career around a voice that rarely fit the standard post-hardcore template. Born Jonathan Monroe Craig in Minot, North Dakota, and raised largely in Abbotsford, British Columbia, he developed a style shaped by soul, gospel, R&B, pop-punk, and alternative rock. His powerful tenor, melismatic phrasing, and emotional delivery made him one of the most recognizable singers to emerge from the 2000s post-hardcore scene.

Craig has cited artists including Boyz II Men and New Found Glory among his early influences. That combination of harmony-driven R&B and melodic punk helped explain why his singing sounded different from the screamed-versus-clean-vocal formula used by many bands around him.

His earliest recorded work came with WesterHALTS, a Tacoma-area garage band that released “Change, Leisure, and Retirement” in 2001. Craig then became the lead singer of Ghost Runner on Third, whose 2005 EP Speak Your Dreams gave him his first substantial recorded showcase.

Craig’s breakthrough arrived with Dance Gavin Dance. He appeared on the 2006 EP Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean and the 2007 album Downtown Battle Mountain, helping establish the band’s early identity through songs that paired technical guitar work, chaotic rhythms, screamed vocals, and his soul-influenced clean singing. He later returned for Downtown Battle Mountain II in 2011.

Between his two periods with Dance Gavin Dance, Craig joined Emarosa. His performances on Relativity in 2008 and the band’s self-titled 2010 album moved his voice into broader alternative-rock arrangements while retaining the dramatic dynamics associated with post-hardcore. The 2009 acoustic release Heads or Tails? Real or Not presented a stripped-down version of the title track from Relativity.

Craig also became one of three lead singers in Isles & Glaciers, a short-lived supergroup that included Craig Owens and Vic Fuentes. The project’s only original EP, The Hearts of Lonely People, arrived in 2010 and brought together musicians associated with Chiodos, Pierce the Veil, Emarosa, The Receiving End of Sirens, and other post-hardcore bands.

His solo career began with A Dream Is a Question You Don’t Know How to Answer in 2009. The album emphasized the R&B and soul elements in his singing through songs including “Istillfeelher, Pt. III,” “Children of Divorce,” and “7 AM, 2 Bottles and the Wrong Road.” Live at Bamboozle 2010 followed as a seven-song solo concert release.

Craig expanded his independent solo catalog with Find What You Love and Let It Kill You in 2013. In 2015, he joined rapper Kyle Lucas and producer Captain Midnite for the collaborative album The Blueprint for Going in Circles and also released The Le Cube Sessions, a ten-track collection of alternate performances and remixes.

In 2014, Craig became the lead vocalist of Slaves. The band released Through Art We Are All Equals, Routine Breathing, and Beautiful Death, followed by the acoustic EP Revision. His work with the group placed his voice over post-hardcore, alternative-rock, and R&B-influenced arrangements. Slaves removed Craig from the lineup in January 2019; the remaining musicians later continued with a new singer and eventually adopted the name Rain City Drive.

Craig returned to solo R&B with the five-song Find Your Home EP in 2020 and the eleven-song album The Places We’ll Never Be in 2021. The two-song release The Vocal Sessions followed later that year. The seven-track Still Searching arrived in 2023 and continued the electronic R&B direction of his later solo recordings.

His newest band, Old Flame, began releasing music in 2024 through SBG Records. “Pray,” “Thank You for the Patience,” “Small Town Liar,” and “Larkin” were collected on the Larkin EP, and “Falling Down” followed in December. The project marked Craig’s return to rock after several years focused primarily on solo music. In 2026, he announced that an Old Flame album had been completed and that a music video had been filmed for its first single.

Craig’s career has also been interrupted by addiction, public disputes, and repeated lineup changes. The most widely documented incident occurred in 2011, when fans reported paying for MacBook computers that were never delivered. Rise Records and Artery Management announced that affected buyers would be reimbursed, and Craig entered detox. His departure from Slaves in 2019 followed another reported relapse. Those events remain part of a complicated public history surrounding a singer whose voice continued to attract listeners across multiple bands and musical styles.

Jonny Craig Bands and Musical Projects

WesterHALTS

WesterHALTS was Craig’s earliest known band. The Tacoma-area project released “Change, Leisure, and Retirement” in 2001.

Ghost Runner on Third

Craig joined Ghost Runner on Third as lead vocalist in the early 2000s. The band’s Speak Your Dreams EP was released in 2005.

Dance Gavin Dance

Craig helped define Dance Gavin Dance’s early sound on Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean and Downtown Battle Mountain. He returned to the group for Downtown Battle Mountain II.

Emarosa

Craig fronted Emarosa for Relativity, the acoustic release Heads or Tails? Real or Not, and the band’s self-titled 2010 album.

Isles & Glaciers

Craig shared lead-vocal duties with Craig Owens and Vic Fuentes in Isles & Glaciers. The supergroup released one original EP and a later remix collection.

Slaves

Craig sang on the first three Slaves studio albums and the acoustic EP Revision. His final studio album with the band was Beautiful Death.

Jonny Craig, Kyle Lucas, and Captain Midnite

The trio released the collaborative R&B and hip-hop album The Blueprint for Going in Circles in 2015.

Old Flame

Old Flame returned Craig to a full-band rock setting in 2024. The project’s first five released songs were “Pray,” “Thank You for the Patience,” “Small Town Liar,” “Larkin,” and “Falling Down.”

Jonny Craig Albums, EPs, and Major Releases

Solo Releases

A Dream Is a Question You Don’t Know How to Answer (2009)

A Dream Is A Question You Don't Know How To Answer [Explicit]

Live at Bamboozle 2010 (2010)

Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (2013)

Find What You Love and Let It Kill You: Special Edition (2013)

The Le Cube Sessions (2015)

Find Your Home (2020)

The Places We’ll Never Be (2021)

The Vocal Sessions (2021)

Still Searching (2023)

With WesterHALTS

Change, Leisure, and Retirement (2001)

With Ghost Runner on Third

Speak Your Dreams (2005)

With Dance Gavin Dance

Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean (2006)

Downtown Battle Mountain (2007)

Downtown Battle Mountain II (2011)

With Emarosa

Relativity (2008)

Heads or Tails? Real or Not (2009)

Emarosa (2010)

With Isles & Glaciers

The Hearts of Lonely People (2010)

The Hearts of Lonely People: Remixes (2014)

With Slaves

Through Art We Are All Equals (2014)

Routine Breathing (2015)

Beautiful Death (2018)

Revision (2019)

With Kyle Lucas and Captain Midnite

The Blueprint for Going in Circles (2015)

With Old Flame

Larkin (2024)

Falling Down (2024)

Updated August 1, 2026.

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