Biography
Their background may have made it look easy – after all, Sidewalk Prophets toured with Jeremy Camp and Audio Adrenaline on the strength of independent albums, then rode the popularity of their first Word Records release, These Simple Truths, to a Dove Award for Best New Artist and a nomination for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. “The Words I Would Say” hit number three, “You Can Have Me” went Top 20, a Christmas single, “Hope Was Born This Night,” hit the Top 10, and “You Love Me Anyway” went all the way to number one on the Billboard Christian Singles chart. The band has toured with the Rock and Worship Roadshow with MercyMe and Francesca Battistelli, among others, and landed another Dove nomination for Group of the Year in 2011.
“It’s not easy for any of us to do what God has called us to do, to go make disciples of the world,” says lead singer Dave Frey. He is referring in part to the rigors of the road, which can be extraordinarily demanding for a band as hard working as Sidewalk Prophets, but also to the challenges all vocal believers face.
“It’s not a safe thing to try to live like Christ,” he says. “You’re going to have people criticize you and put you down. It says that in the book of James.”
“But,” he is quick to add, “when you think both of the sacrifice Jesus made and how off the charts that was but also of what that won for us, you realize that for those of us who persevere and follow him, it will be a good, and an amazing journey.”
There is no doubting the dedication of the band, easily one of the hardest working in all of music. They are hands-on about everything, from overall career direction to the smallest details of stage set-up and merchandise. They meet with fans at each stop, including those without tickets to sold-out shows, sign autographs, do interviews, handle their own driving, immerse themselves in PR strategy and keep up a steady contact with fans through social media, including some of the cleverest and most off-the-wall road videos anywhere.