downhere
Downhere |
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downhere is a Juno, Dove, and Covenant Award winning Christian Rock (melodic alt-rock) band from Canada. They have released three albums to date, with the third being Wide-Eyed And Mystified, which was released on May 23, 2006. As with other bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Vertical Horizon, downhere has two lead singers.
The band was formed by Marc Martel and Jason Germain who were room mates at Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Saskatchewan. Martel and Germain added fellow Canadians Tyson Manning and Jeremy Thiessen to the mix and released a now out-of-print, self-titled debut CD on Slyngshot Records. That album was re-worked with new bassist Glenn Lavender and became their debut international release through Word Records.
Their second album, also released through Word Records was called So Much For Substitutes. In 2006 they signed to John Mays Centricity Records and released Wide-Eyed And Mystified which lead to CovenantAwards (GMA Canada) for Recorded Song of the Year (for "A Better Way") and Rock Album of the Year and the 2007 Juno Award for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year.
In 2007, the band released 2 additional CDs that were unique. In early 2007, they released Wide-Eyed and Simplified, which contained new versions of 8 songs from Wide-Eyed and Mystified, in addition to three popular songs from earlier releases.
Later in 2007, the band released Thunder After The Lightning: The Uncut Demos. This album contained 15 previously unreleased demos which were considered for use on Wide-Eyed and Mystified but were not used. The CD also contained demo versions of 2 songs which were used on Wide-Eyed and Mystified.
The band is currently writing for a new album which is set to be released in September of 2008.
Band members
- Marc Martel - Vocals, guitar
- Jason Germain - Vocals, guitar, piano
- Glenn Lavender - Bass
- Jeremy Thiessen - Drums
Discography
Studio albums
- downhere (1999) [Independent]
- downhere (2001)
- So Much For Substitutes (2003)
- Wide-Eyed And Mystified (2006)
- Wide-Eyed And Simplified (2007)
- Thunder After The Lightning: The Uncut Demos (2007)
Compilation contributions
- The Warehouse Mix (1999), "Larger Than Life" & "Raincoat".
- WOW Hits 2002 (2002), "Protest To Praise".
- What Matters Most - A Wes King Tribute (2006), "Excavate".
- Bethlehem Skyline (2007), "Glory To God In The Highest" & "How Many Kings".
- Every Man's Battle (Book Series) 2007 release TBA, "Grown Man".
Singles
Year | Title | Peak Chart Positions | Album |
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| |||
2001 | "Larger Than Life" | downhere (album) | |
2001 | "Free Me Up" | downhere (album) | |
2001 | "Great Are You" | downhere (album) | |
2003 | "Breaking Me Down" | So Much For Substitutes | |
2003/2004 | "Starspin" | So Much For Substitutes | |
2003/2004 | "What It's Like" | So Much For Substitutes | |
2006 | "The More" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2006 | "Surrender" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2006 | "A Better Way" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2006 | "Little Is Much" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2007 | "Forgive Yourself" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2007 | "The Real Jesus" | Wide-Eyed and Mystified | |
2007 | "How Many Kings" | Christian AC - #4 (12/28/07) | Bethlehem Skyline |
2007 | "Glory To God In The Highest" | Bethlehem Skyline |
DVDs
- While The Word Is Asleep (2004)
Awards & nominations
- 2000 Western Canadian Music Award, Outstanding Festival Act of the Year.
- 2002 Covenant Award, Rock Album of the Year, "downhere".
- 2002 Covenant Award, Rock Song of the Year, "Larger Than Life".
- 2002 Juno Award, Best Gospel Album, "downhere".
- 2002 GMA Music Award Nomination, New Artist of the Year.
- 2002 Shai Award, Rock/Alternative Album of the Year, "downhere".
- 2003 Covenant Award, Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the Year, "So Much For Substitutes".
- 2003 Covenant Award, Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year, "What It's Like".
- 2003 Shai Award Nomination, Group of the Year.
- 2004 Juno Award Nomination, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year, "So Much For Substitutes".
- 2004 GMA Music Award, Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year, "Breaking Me Down".
- 2004 GMA Music Award Nomination, Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year, "So Much For Substitutes".
- 2006 Covenant Award, Rock Song of the Year, "The More"
- 2006 Covenant Award, Rock Album of the Year, "Wide-Eyed and Mystified".
- 2006 Covenant Award, Recorded Song of the Year, "A Better Way".
- 2006 Covenant Award nomination, Album of the Year, "Wide-Eyed and Mystified".
- 2006 Covenant Award nomination, Artist of the Year.
- 2006 Covenant Award nomination, Group of the Year.
- 2007 Juno Award, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year, "Wide-Eyed and Mystified".
- 2007 Covenant Award nomination, Rock Song of the year, "Surrender".
- 2007 Covenant Award nomination, Group of the year.
Online presence
Official sites
- downhere.com
- downhere's Blog
- Glenn Lavender's Blog
- Jeremy Thiessen's Blog
- Centricity Records
- PureVolume.com
- Street Level Agency
- Street Alliance
- EchoTunes
- iTunes Music Store
Fan sites
Trivia
This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2007) |
- All the members of downhere are Canadian. Jason and Glenn are from the province of Ontario. Marc is from the province of Quebec and speaks the French language fluently. Jeremy is from British Columbia.
- Marc, Jason, Jeremy, and Tyson Manning all met each other while attending Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Saskatchewan.
- Tyson was downhere's original bass player. He departed from the group when downhere signed with Word Records in Nashville, Tennessee to continue his education at Briercrest.
- Marc, Jason, and Jeremy met Glenn Lavender at a World Vision Associate Artist Retreat in Florida. Glenn joined downhere shortly after the group's signing to Word Records. Glenn was frontman for a couple of bands in the Guelph, Ontario area.
- Marc Martel was selected Best Male Vocalist for 2003 on ChristianityToday.com.
- Songs from the self-titled debut album, "downhere" have been featured in the movie Joshua.
- Marc's younger brother Dave is lead singer and guitarist of the Montreal-based band, onlyforward.
- Jeremy is not the brother of Matt Thiessen, lead singer of the Christian rock/pop band Relient K, though Matt Thiessen does have a younger brother by the name of Jeremy. [1]
- The band got their name from the title of an unreleased song which they played at a college dorm-mate's funeral.
Video games
Expert programmer/Downhere guru Caleb Bernard has authored a number of flash games about the band. They can be found here.