Austins Bridge is an American

Christian country A Christian state is a country that recognizes a form of Christianity as its official religion and often has a state church (also called an established church), which is a Christian denomination that supports the government and is supported by ...

band originally formed in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. The band consists of Justin Rivers and Jason Baird.

Band history

The band was formed around 2007 by Rivers and Baird, along with Mike Kofahl. After signing a record contract with Daywind Records, their eponymous debut album was released in 2007, produced by

Bubba Smith Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith (February 28, 1945 – August 3, 2011) was an American professional football defensive end and actor. Smith played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and Houston Oilers. ...

. The album received critical praise and the band received several

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee exce ...

nominations during the

39th GMA Dove Awards The 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 23, 2008, recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2007. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. Nominations were announced on February 14, ...

, winning "Best Bluegrass Recorded Song". In 2008, the band participated at the Franklin Graham Crusade, and they've appeared at

Winterfest 'Winterfest' is the name of various winter festivals held in various parts of North America. Fort Lauderdale, Florida The annual Winterfest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, produces the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade which is tagged the "G ...

for the past three years. After the departure of Kofahl, Toby Hitchcock, who had been friends with Lead singer Justin Rivers for many years, was asked to come and join the group. The band continued to tour. They recorded a live album called ''

Live at Oak Tree ''Live at Oak Tree: The Series'' is a TV series from Daywind Records that airs on The Inspiration Network. The series presents many artists behind-the-scenes during all the preparation and recording of a live presentation. The Series Daywind Rec ...

'', which was released on CD/DVD in 2009. The album received four

nominations at the

41st GMA Dove Awards The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard. Nom ...

, including "Country Album of the Year" and "Long Form Video of the Year". In November 2009, the band performed at the opening of

Mercy Ministries Mercy Multiplied is an international Christianity, Christian charitable organization that offers a six-month faith-based residential program for young women between the ages of 13 and 32 who suffer from issues such as eating disorders, major ...

' new locations in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. In February 2010 they also joined other artists in recording "Come Together Now", a single in support of victims from the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

. Their second studio album, '' Times Like These'', was released in May 2010 and was produced by

Jay DeMarcus Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American musician, vocalist, record producer and songwriter. He is a member of the country music band Rascal Flatts. Early life DeMarcus was born in Columbus, Ohio. He grad ...

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

.Austins Bridge Bio
at ChristianMusic.com The album received rave reviews and was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. The group was not able to sustain itself financially throughout 2010 and though it hurt Justin, Jason & Toby very deeply, the boys decided to take a break from touring. The group remains on hiatus as of February 2012, and has no plans to get back together. In April 2013, Justin Rivers competed in the blind auditions for a spot on NBC's '' The Voice'': season four, and was selected to be a member of the team mentored by country singer

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

Discography

* ''

Austins Bridge Austins Bridge is an American Christian country music, Christian country band originally formed in Austin, Texas. The band consists of Justin Rivers and Jason Baird. Band history The band was formed around 2007 by Rivers and Baird, along with M ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Times Like These'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

Austins Bridge has received several

nominations in their career. In 2008, they were nominated for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year at the

. In 2010, they received Dove Award nominations for Country Album of the Year and Long Form Music Video for ''

''. The songs "Dry Bones" and "Hold on To Jesus" also received nominations for Country Recorded Song of the Year and Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year respectively. {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Association ! Nominated work ! Category ! Result , - , rowspan=2 , 2008 , , rowspan=2 ,

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

, , , , New Artist of the Year , , , - , , "He's In Control" , , Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year , , , - , rowspan=4 , 2010 , , rowspan=4 ,

, , rowspan=2 , ''

'' , , Country Album of the Year , , , - , , Long Form Video of the Year , , , - , , "Hold on to Jesus" , , Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year , , , - , , "Dry Bones" , , Country Recorded Song of the Year , , , - , rowspan=2 , 2011 , ,

, , '' Times Like These'' , , Country Album of the Year , , , - , ,

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, , '' Times Like These'' , , Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album , , {{nom

References

External links

Official website
Country music groups from Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 2007 2007 establishments in Texas