Disciple (band)

Disciple is an American Christian metal and rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, formed in 1992. Since its formation, the band has released 12 studio albums, 3 extended plays, 1 live extended play, and 1 compilation album.

History

Early releases (1992–1998)

Disciple was formed in December 1992 by high school friends Kevin Young, Brad Noah, Adrian DiTommasi and Tim Barrett. The band played its first show in May 1993 at Topside Church of God in Louisville, TN and recorded its first three-song demo at Nightsong Studios with Producer Jesse Jones. Adrian DiTommasi left the band shortly after that for personal reasons, and Kevin Young would eventually take over the bass guitar duties. Later that year, Disciple recorded its first full length recording titled ''Trail of Tears'' at Nightsong Studios with Jesse Jones which was a cassette-only independent release. In 1994 the band recorded its second full length recording titled ''Lake of Fire'' which was also a cassette-only independent release recorded at Nightsong Studios with producer Jesse Jones.

In late 1995, Disciple released ''What Was I Thinking'' on their own independent label Slain Records. The album was produced by first-time producer Travis Wyrick, former guitar player of the band Sage. It was the first Disciple album available on CD and cassette. The band considered ''What Was I Thinking'' to be their real first album, and the previous recordings to just be "practice-runs". In 1996, the band performed a Battle of the Bands show at the Electric Ballroom in Knoxville, TN in which Jeff Lysyczyn of Warner Bros. received a copy of the band's independent CD and a few months later talks began between the band and Warner Bros.

In 1997, Disciple signed with Warner Resound Records and on October 27, 1997, released its five-song EP, ''My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy'' produced by Jeff Lysyczyn and Travis Wyrick. The band began touring non-stop in December 1997 and the band had their first No. 1 Rock Radio single on the Jamsline Rock Chart with the song "Fill My Shoes".

In 1998, Disciple signed with Rugged Records with whom they released their second full-length album, ''This Might Sting a Little'' on June 1, 1999. This album garnered them two GMA Dove Award nominations and two No. 1 Christian rock hit songs with "I Just Know" and "Big Bad Wolf". "I Just Know" was the most played song of 1999 on the Albuquerque, NM Christian radio station, KLYT, now known as Star 88.

Later works (2000–2013)

The band released their third studio album, ''By God'', on February 6, 2001, which went on to win the Inspirational Life Award in 2001 and earned them two No. 1 Christian rock hits with the songs "By God" and "God of Elijah", and two Dove Awards nominations.

The band later released '' Back Again'' on February 25, 2003, on their own record label, Slain Records, which earned two No. 1 Christian rock hits with the songs "Back Again" and "Wait". Kevin Young agreed with the album being called the band's ''Back in Black'' album in a 2008 radio interview with The Full Armor of God Broadcast. In October 2003 Disciple added bassist Joey Fife to the trio.

Disciple signed with INO Records and released their self-titled ''Disciple'' on June 7, 2005. This album featured three No. 1 Christian rock hits with the songs "The Wait Is Over", "Into Black", and "Rise Up", and two Dove Awards nominations. "The Wait Is Over" was the most-played Christian rock song of 2005.

They released ''Scars Remain'' on November 7, 2006. The song " After the World" was the eighth most played song on Christian Hit Radio stations in 2007 and was the band's first Christian CHR Radio No. 1 Hit.2007 Year End Charts/Top Christian CHR songs
, R&R magazine. Retrieved January 6, 2008 ''Scars Remain'', the album, has so far earned one Christian rock No. 1 with the song "Love Hate (On and On)" and two Dove Awards nominations. ''Scars Remain'' won the Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year, and was the band's first Dove Award win.

On January 8, 2008, Young announced in a "Disciple: The Alliance" email that Noah and Fife were stepping down as band members. However, Young said that Noah "decided to still be a part of the songwriting process and even play on the recordings." He also mentioned that "the songs that rad Noahhas been writing for the new Disciple project are somewhere between hard rock and southern rock." Also in that announcement was the addition of two new band members, Andrew Welch on guitar, and Israel Beachy on bass. With a new line-up, Disciple set off on the Cross the Line Tour with Superchick in March 2008. In April 2008, the band also announced the addition of Micah Sannan on guitar as well.

They released '' Southern Hospitality'' on October 21, 2008. ''Southern Hospitality'' earned the Dove Award nomination for Rock Album of the Year, and had a No. 1 Rock Hit with the song "Romance Me". Also in 2008, the band appeared on '' WWE The Music, Vol. 8'', providing the track "In the Middle of It Now" as the entrance theme for wrestlers Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.

On April 28, 2010, Disciple announced a new album, ''Horseshoes and Hand Grenades'', on RadioU which was released on September 14. It was produced by Rob Hawkins, although the band re-recorded the album's lead single, " Dear X (You Don't Own Me)", with Howard Benson. They also revealed that they are accompanying Thousand Foot Krutch on their Welcome to the Masquerade tour, and afterwards tour with RED on their Nothing & Everything tour. They also had a tour with Ivoryline and Emery. They had their headline Rules of Engagement Tour with Project 86 and Write this Down in early 2011. Later, they joined Kutless and Newsboys on the Born Again Experience tour. They joined Skillet for their Awake and Alive Tour in late 2011. Trent Reiff officially joined the band on drums during the final stages of the ''Horseshoes and Handgrenades'' recordings sessions in early 2010 after the original drummer Tim Barrett's departure from the band.

''O God Save Us All'' was released on November 13, 2012, with Fair Trade Services (formerly INO Records) and was produced by Jasen Rauch, formerly of the band Red, with the first single, "Draw the Line", released on August 14 on iTunes. Lead guitarist Andrew Welch left the band in mid-September (Welch now plays for Thousand Foot Krutch. In November 2012 the band hosted a live video stream for the album release show in Nashville, Tennessee featuring Rich Ward of Stuck Mojo and Fozzy. Despite rumors of Ward joining Disciple full-time, Ward responded to a tweet asking if he was still with Disciple, "No, I just played the album release show with them. I love those guys." Micah Sannan and Israel Beachy amicably left the band in December 2012, and were replaced by Josiah Prince, formerly of Philmont on guitar, and Jason Wilkes, former vocalist for High Flight Society campaign to fund their new album, which was to be recorded and released independently. The campaign was a huge success, setting a goal of $45,000 and ending with a total pledged amount of $115,852. For this project, the band returned to producer Travis Wyrick, who produced the first seven Disciple albums. The album, titled '' Attack'', was released on September 23 worldwide. This was Disciple's first album to feature members Josiah Prince, Jason Wilkes (former frontman of High Flight Society