The Afters

In the early 2000s, four Starbucks employees based in Mesquite, Texas, formed an alternative CCM rock outfit initially called Blisse. The members included Marc Dodd on drums, Matt Fuqua on guitar and vocals, Josh Havens on vocals and guitar, and Brad Wigg on bass and vocals. Under the original name they issued an EP along with the 2001 album When the World Is Wonderful, only to discover another group already using Blisse and therefore adopt the Afters as their new moniker.

After gaining attention in the Dallas music scene, the Afters landed a contract with Epic and delivered their major-label debut, I Wish We All Could Win, in 2005. The album reached the Top 25 on the Christian charts later that year, while the single “Beautiful Love” entered the Hot 100 in 2006. The band soon returned to the studio for the follow-up, Never Going Back to OK, which appeared in February 2008 and topped the Christian chart.

With bassist Dan Ostebo and drummer Jordan Mohilowski now comprising the rhythm section, the Afters released their third album, Light Up the Sky, in 2010 and saw it climb into the Top Ten. They sustained their sequence of Christian Top Ten albums with 2013’s Life Is Beautiful and 2016’s Live on Forever, the latter serving as their first release on Sony’s Fair Trade Records. A greatest-hits collection titled The Beginning & Everything After arrived in 2019.