Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Walk the Moon’s Lead singer Nicholas Petricca started the band in 2006 while a student at Kenyon College, deriving the band's name from the song "Walking on the Moon" by The Police. The group independently released their debut studio album, I want! I want!, in November 2010, receiving airplay for the track "Anna Sun" on multiple alternative radio stations.  Along with the success of "Anna Sun", Alt Nation named them a band you need to know for the summer of 2012. Influential music blog Neon Gold helped to break the band in January 2011, calling "Anna Sun", "the kind of stuff British A&R dreams, and major label bidding wars, are made of." In February 2011, Walk the Moon signed to RCA Records and in June 2012, released their first major label studio album, Walk the Moon. The album includes a re-recorded version of "Anna Sun", which was song of the summer at least two years in a row. In December 2014, the band released their second major-label studio album, Talking Is Hard. This album includes the international smash hit "Shut Up and Dance", which hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Billboard Rock Songs chart and Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Ryan  Walk the Moon have cited Talking Heads, David Bowie, The Killers, The Police, Tears for Fears, and Phil Collins as influences.  Don’t walk; run to see this great act live.