joined the band

With the departure of the four members, the band recruited Devin Ingelido from Bury the Ashes in bass. Sierra Kusterbeck auditioned for the vocal position by sending a tape online. While the other members were not too sure about Kusterbeck, Harnage convinced them she was right for the job and she soon joined the band in 2007. Little did they know that Kusterbeck lied about her age saying she was 18 years old, when she was really 16, so she could get an audition. However, Kusterbeck later cleared this misunderstanding and explained that it was more of a mix up; she was turning 17 a week from the audition, and she said to Harnage on the phone, “I’m 17, my birthday is in a week”. This was misconstrued to mean she was already 17, and was turning 18, however she actually meant she would be 17 in a week. After the recruit of Kusterbeck, VersaEmerge played local home shows and went on tour with bands such as Kiros, Our Last Night, There for Tomorrow, and Craig Owens. The band worked hard and released their first EP with Kusterbeck, Perceptions , in May 2008. They then parted with rhythm guitarist James Lano, who was then replaced by Jerry Pierce. VersaEmerge later signed to Fueled by Ramen . They began to write their self-titled EP, recording with producer James Paul Wisner. The EP was released February 3, 2009. Rumors stirred of music videos for in Pursuing Design and The Authors, two songs on the EP. In late 2011, the video for in Pursuing Design was leaked. A month after the leak, VersaEmerge still has not commented on its unplanned release.