Citizen Way deliver bright, encouraging Christian rock built around tuneful compositions. The Illinois-based group, previously active under a different moniker, stepped forward under their current name with a 2013 debut. Their follow-up, 2.0, entered the Top Ten of the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart in 2016.
Tracing their roots to Elgin, the band originated in 2004 as the Least of These—an identity distinct from the Texas CCM act sharing that title—and released a self-titled album under it in 2009. Founding members comprised sibling pairs Ben and David Blascoe alongside Ben and Josh Calhoun, all graduates of Judson University. Their inaugural Citizen Way single, “Should've Been Me,” surfaced in 2012. Working alongside producer Seth Mosley (Jeremy Camp, Sidewalk Prophets), they issued the Fair Trade long-player Love Is the Evidence the next year, which registered on the Billboard Heatseekers and Christian albums tallies and reached number 22 on the latter.
After Ben Blascoe departed, leaving a trio, the 2016 Fair Trade release 2.0 enlisted several producers including Mosley and climbed to number nine on the Christian albums chart. The set’s track “Bulletproof” also broke into the Top Ten of the Christian songs chart, hitting number nine in 2017. The group reappeared in 2019 with Love Is a Lion.
