Samestate was an American

Christian alternative rock Christian alternative rock is a form of alternative rock music that is lyrically grounded in a Christian worldview. Some critics have suggested that unlike CCM and older Christian rock, Christian alternative rock generally emphasizes musical st ...

band originating from

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. Band members included Dalton Diehl on vocals, piano and guitar, Darren Harms on guitar and Ryan Lytle on the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

. Their first studio album, ''The Alignment'', was released on February 27, 2012, by

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI i ...

, produced by Pete Kipley and

Paul Moak Paul Moak (born July 8, 1979) is an American producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Paul Greer Moak, III was born in Jackson, MS on July 8, 1979. He learned music at a young a ...

. They are best known for their first single, "Hurricane". It reached No. 4 on

Air 1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), it primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History In 1986, KLRD began broadcasting Christian ...

's Top Songs Chart on November 12, 2011. In March 2013 the band launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

campaign to raise funds for an independent EP, ''The Boxer & The Thief''. It was successfully funded and the EP was available in July to backers. On the September 18, 2013, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were parting ways.

Background

Samestate was formed in 2008 in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List_of_cities_in_Kansas#Highest_population_listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Unit ...

. Diehl was the impetus for the creation of the band because he was the worship leader at

MidAmerica Nazarene University MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a private Nazarene (evangelical Christian) university in Olathe, Kansas in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It was established in 1966. History Mid-America Nazarene College (MANC) was founded in 1966. ...

during his sophomore year, which was when he added Harms and Leoni to the band. Diehl said that he began composing songs to perform during meetings at camps and retreats and at places such as Sheridan's Frozen Custard and Chick-fil-A. This caused him to seek out and add the last two members to the band, Lytle and Wyatt, soon after they had formed the trio. The band signed with

in 2011, who released a taster EP called ''Samestate'', a precursor to 2012's ''The Alignment''. The band decided to sign with Sparrow Records instead of remaining independent, citing the talent at Sparrow could help foster their career.

Tours

The band's first tour began in August 2011. Called "So Long Summer", it was with a band named Caleb (composed of Caleb and Will Chapman, who are sons of

Steven Curtis Chapman Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist. Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of conte ...

). Samestate's second outing was the "Rise Up" tour with

Family Force 5 FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2005 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jacob " ...

during March and April 2012. The "Radio Listener Appreciation" tour, with

Building 429 Building 429 is an American Christian rock band from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Their name is derived from a Biblical passage known as Ephesians 4:29, which, in the New International Version of the Bible, reads as follows: "Do not let any un ...

and

Andy Cherry Andrew Paul Cherry (born March 16, 1986, in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American contemporary Christian singer-songwriter raised in Bloomington, Indiana and Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2012 Cherry released the album entitled '' Nothing Left to ...

, immediately followed in April and May.

Discography

Album

Singles

Videos

The song "Hurricane" has a music video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. In 2012, the band was working on its second music video with the song "Shadows".

References

External links

* {{Official website
News Release Tuesday
Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Sparrow Records artists American Christian rock groups Alternative rock groups from Kansas 2008 establishments in Kansas