Abandon

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).

The group's name was inspired by the Bible verse of Matthew 10:39 which reads "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

In the two years since Abandon’s Forefront Records debut Searchlights, the San Antonio-based band scored a Dove nomination, throngs of critical acclaim and tours alongside Fireflight, Building 429, Remedy Drive, Teen Mania’s Acquire the Fire, plus a plethora of major faith-based festivals. Amongst all the activity, the modern rockers crafted its sophomore CD Control, which finds the five-some taking the next natural evolutionary musical step, while also turning inward for their greatest lyrical depth to date.

The guys can attest to that type of self-examination, followed by a season of giving the Lord complete control first hand, which in spite of the success from their freshman to sophomore records, was still filled with its fair share of strain. For starters, being on the road meant distance between wives and extended families, along with financial sacrifices, as Abandon continues to invest in building its ministry from the ground-up. And while the players will be the first to admit being stretched further than ever before on all of those fronts, an eventual ability to lay those burdens before the Lord and relinquish their control led to the greatest clarity that they were indeed pursuing the proper path.

Between members’ constantly developing faith, the project’s adventurous sonic ambition, and perhaps most importantly, everyone’s individual resignation of Control, Abandon is poised for its most active and effective season thus far.

“We’re always reevaluating success for ourselves,” sums up Josh. “We don’t think there are any limits, not in a prideful sense, but with the intention of serving the Creator and wanting Him to use us to impact the world around us.”