Pillar

Pillar started in Hays, Kansas in 1998, when Fort Hays State University roommates Brad Noone and Rob Beckley got together with friends Travis Jenkins, Dustin Adams, and Michael Wittig, known as Kalel. In 1999, Pillar released their first album, Metamorphosis, on their own independent label, Shadrach Records. Around this time they relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to try to find a larger fan base. A deal with Flicker was inked in 2000 after the band's self-released debut, Metamorphosis, impressed the label. Within months, Pillar followed things up with Above. Their first single, "Open Your Eyes," was popular on the college charts, earning Above nearly 60,000 in sales. Pillar also earned the Best Rock Band award at the annual Dove Awards in 2001.
A year later, Pillar relocated to Tulsa, OK, and released Fireproof. MCA picked up the band and reissued the energetic sophomore effort in 2003. However, MCA shut down shortly thereafter and Pillar returned to Flicker, and released their next album, Where Do We Go From Here, in 2004.
In 2005, Joey "Cinco" Avalos, formerly of Christian rock trio Justifide, was added as a second guitar player. He was never an official member of the band, and only played live shows. He no longer does, as he is playing in the newly started band "Stars Go Dim".
In Pillar's 2006 release, The Reckoning, the band stays true to their style while experimenting with new sounds. Pillar was nominated for the "Best Rock/Rap Gospel Album" Grammy with this album.
On Pillar's fifth album, For The Love Of The Game, frontman Rob Beckley says this: "We get to say that we play rock 'n roll for a living. We get to see lives changed. We have a renewed love and focus. With that in mind, making For the Love of the Game was very fun, and very fluent; it just came out. We went into the studio knowing what the album was going to be called and we were able to carry the vision through. We wanted to have a positive, bright, fun sounding record. That was our intent from the beginning. We trust that as people hear this record, God will use it to change lives. That's the ultimate fuel for our fire. When someone tells us, "your music changed my marriage, or brought me closer to God," that's when we know God is using our music, and that's what it's all about to us." ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
Written by MacKenzie Wilson and Abel Ringvold
Pillar's sixth album, "Confessions," was released on September 22, 2009, claiming to show an evolved style but at the same time sticking close to the formula developed in For The Love Of The Game.