| Abandon | |
|---|---|
| Origin | San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| Genres | Christian rock, alternative rock, pop |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | ForeFront Records |
| Website | [1] |
| Members | |
| Josh Engler Justin Engler Dave Vela Stevan Vela Bryan Fowler |
|
| Past members | |
| Ryan Reavis | |
Abandon is an American Christian rock band from San Antonio, Texas. The group has five members: brothers Josh (lead vocals) and Justin Engler (guitar), cousins Stevan (guitar) and Dave Vela (drums), and Bryan Fowler (bass).[1] They signed onto ForeFront Records in late 2007 and released the Abandon EP in July 2008. Their first single "Providence" was released to radios in August and has reached #7 on R&R's Christian rock charts.
The group's name was inspired by the Bible verse of Joshua 22:3, which reads "God has directed us not to abandon any brothers".[2]
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The group of two brothers, two cousins, and friend (and former bassist) Ryan Reavis,[3] formed as an independent band in the 2002, playing worship music at their church.[1][4] In 2005 they began to play local concerts and released their first album Ambush, which was produced by the band and Tavis Wilson.[4] Soon after the release of their second album, Who You Are (produced by Kevin Bruchert), Reavis chose to leave the band. Not long afterwards, Bruchert introduced the band to Bryan Fowler after they played at his church. Soon after, Fowler joined the band.
They signed a deal with ForeFront Records in the fall of 2007.[2] The record label's A&R manager Chris York discovered the band by hearing them play at a club next door to where York was at a restaurant with his wife. He says, "I was having dinner at a Mexican restaurant with my wife, and she started to get frustrated with me because she could tell I wasn’t paying full attention to our conversation. This was because I could hear a band playing live at the club next door, and it sounded really, really good. I got in touch with the band later, and after we got to know each other, we knew it was a fit and started working together!"[1]
Abandon's initial ForeFront release, the Abandon EP (produced by Chris Stevens), was released on July 22, 2008 and contains five tracks that will be released on their forthcoming studio album.[5] Alternative rock song "Providence" and "All Because of You", which has a more contemporary style, were both released as radio singles on August 1, 2008.[1] "Providence" has reached number-seven on R&R's Christian rock chart as of October 24.[6]
Abandon released its sophmore album Control on April 19, 2011.[7]
The band's single "Live it Out" is currently featured on The Food Network for their promotion of the show Food Network Challenge and was used on the 2011 ESPY Awards Show on ESPN.
Abandon's music and lead singer's voice have often been compared to The Killers.[8]