His family had an interest in gospel music, and his father, a minister, taught him to play guitar. At college, he studied music business while writing songs and playing guitar. He joined the Orange County alt-rock band Something Corporate in 2001. In October of that year, the group released its debut EP, Audioboxer, on the Drive-Thru label, followed by their major-label debut album, Leaving Through the Window, on MCA in May 2002; the disc reached number 101 in the Billboard 200. Their second album, North, debuted at number 24 after its release in October 2003. Something Corporate was primarily a vehicle for lead singer/pianist Andrew McMahon, who took nearly all the songwriting credits, with Tell restricted to a subsidiary role, playing guitar and providing background vocals. He left the group amicably to go solo in early 2004. His first solo release was the song "Just for You," which he co-wrote with Mike Greene, and which appeared on the soundtrack to the film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in May 2005. On March 13, 2007, New Door Records, an imprint of Universal Music, released his debut solo album, You Can Hold Me Down. ~ William Ruhlmann