MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian band founded in Greenville, Texas. The band consists of vocalist Bart Millard, keyboardist James Bryson, percussionist Robin Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.
The band formed in 1994 and released six independent albums prior to signing with INO Records in 2001.[1] The group first gained mainstream recognition with the crossover single, “I Can Only Imagine” which elevated their debut album, Almost There, to becoming certified double platinum. Since then, the group has released five additional studio albums, three of which have been certified gold, and a greatest hits album. MercyMe has won numerous Dove Awards and has had various Grammy Award nominations.
Formation and Early years
Born into a family as the son of Southern Methodist University All-American player Arthur Millard and the brother of a football player,MercyMe's lead singer, Bart Millard wanted to become a football player, yet his football career ended when he injured his ankles in a high school football game.As a result of his injury, Millard took choir as an elective. During his freshmen year in college, Bart underwent the death of his father His youth pastor, who had moved from Texas to Florida, invited Bart to work with a youth group’s worship band.Millard accepted his invitation and went on to work on the video and sound systems for the group On a day when the band’s lead singer got stuck on stage, Bart took the challenge of singing for the group. James (Jim) Bryson played piano for that band and later went on to play with Bart Millard and the worship band on a trip to Switzerland. This trip became the cause of Millard and Bryson’s consideration of playing music full-time. Millard and his friend, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, moved to Oklahoma City to form MercyMe with Bryson. The trio set up a studio and a “living area” in an old abandoned day-care center. Bassist Nathan Cochran and Drummer Robby Shaffer joined the band later on, accompanying the band on releasing six independent projects before signing with INO Records in 2001. Unlike their first three major label albums, their earlier indie projects tended to orientate more towards rock rhythms. The group’s name, “MercyMe”, originated during Bart’s time as a youth ministry intern in Florida. Concerned that her grandson was home whenever she called, Bart’s grandmother would exclaim, “Well mercy me, why don’t you get a real job?”
Charity
In 2005, MercyMe participated in a benefit concert at Belmont University with various other country, gospel and contemporary Christian artists for the people affected by the Asian Tsunami.
In 2009, MercyMe conducted their ‘Rock and Worship Roadshow’ tour in partnership with Compassion International and Imagine A Cure in order to raise money to help kids with diabetes through Imagine A Cure and people with medical needs around the world through Compassion International.
The Go Foundation
Among the songs found in their eleventh album, Coming Up To Breathe, is a song titled I Would Die For You. This song was made in dedication to BJ Higgins, a young boy who contracted Bubonic Plague on the mission fields of Peru. Since then, I Would Die For You has been used to raise money for The Go Foundation, which was born out of Higgins' untimely death.
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