Jericho Road is a

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

that sings

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

. The band's members are Abe Mills (from St. Louis, Missouri), Dave Kimball (Sandy, Utah), Justin Smith (Parma, Idaho), and Bret Bryce (Knoxville, Tennessee).

Biography

The band members met at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

while performing in the group The Young Ambassadors, and developed close friendships performing together. After expressing strong desires to use their performing talents in a way that would be both entertaining and inspiring, they decided to form a new group, Jericho Road. When Abe Mills, Bret Bryce, Dave Kimball, and Justin Smith stepped onto the music scene as Jericho Road in August 2001, they were met with immediate success. Their self-titled debut release broke all sales records for their label Shadow Mountain, selling over 10,000 copies in its first week. Nearly 150,000 copies later, the band continues to share their music and conviction with fans of all faiths throughout the world. Jericho Road has been fortunate to team up with many award-winning songwriters and musicians. These include Christian artists Steve Siler, Lowell Alexander, and

Scott Krippayne Scott Krippayne (born July 23, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is better known for his contributions towards other artists, as over 150 of his songs have been recorded by others including Point of Grace, John Tesh, Avalon, Jaci Vel ...

Background of performers

Abdullah R. "Abe" Mills was born and raised in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. His family converted to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

when he was about six. Mills served his mission in the Texas Houston Mission. He met his wife Rachel, who grew up in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

at BYU. In addition to being part of Young Ambassadors, Mills was a walk-on member of the BYU Cougars football team. Mills majored in broadcast journalism. He was also a host on the LDS Church produced show "Center Street". The Mills later lived in Kalamazoo with their five children. At a later date Mills moved to Florida. In about 2017 he shifted to fulltime creating a YouTube series with his family entitled "Sunshine Mafia"."All In" LDS Living podcast interview with Mills
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Awards and fan base

In 2003, Jericho Road won a Listeners Choice Award for Album of the Year (True North) and Group Artist of the Year. They also received a 2003

Pearl Award Music has had a long history in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the days in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and the settlement of the West, to the present day. In the early days of the Church, stripped-down Latter-Day Saint folk music ...

for Performing Artist of the Year and Contemporary Recording of the Year (''A New Day'' from the album "True North"). Jericho Road's fan base and recognition have steadily grown, with their albums sales approaching 150,000 CDs and millions of dollars in sales. Having completed two tours throughout the West coast and Canada in 2002 and 2003, the band also performed in Washington D.C., Kansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Radio stations across the country (both contemporary and Christian) have helped them gain national attention. "Finding My Way Back to You", the hit single from their second album, was on the Top 5 most-requested list at KXEN in St. Louis.

International performances

In the fall of 2003 the group was asked to sing the National Anthem at the 100th anniversary of the first World Series at Dodgertown Sports & Conference Center in Vero Beach, Florida. The Diamond Dreams Fantasy Baseball organization sponsored their trip and even let them play in the games. From 2005-2007 the group has gained more international attention and exposure, completing two tours to the United Kingdom and Ireland, a sold-out week-long tour to Chile last July, and recent performances in Florida, Washington, Oregon, and California. Jericho Road also toured to seven cities in Japan from February 15–25, 2007, touring to Okinawa, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Sendai.

Discography

* ''Jericho Road'' - released November 20, 2001 * ''True North'' - released October 1, 2002 * ''What Matters Most'' - released October 15, 2002 * ''Deeper Still'' EP - released October 7, 2003 * ''There Is More'' - released September 6, 2005 * ''Best of Jericho Road'' - released October 1, 2006 * ''Day of Rest'' - released September 6, 2010

References

External links

*
AllMusic profile
{{Authority control American boy bands Latter Day Saint musical groups Brigham Young University alumni Musical groups established in 2001 2001 establishments in Utah