Brio: How did God bring the three of you together?
Chris: Jason Barton (lead singer) has been the natural, filling in for groups and working with 4Him. Mark Harris, who’s in 4Him, knew that Jason had been working on this idea of starting a group like 33 Miles. Mark knew me, and he suggested that Jason meet me. They did a concert one night in Mobile, Ala., and Jason gave me a call and said, “Hey, you don’t know who I am, and it’s kind of weird, but do you mind if we just meet for like 15 minutes?” Sure enough, during the next sound check I went over there and heard him sing. We shook hands after we finished talking, and Jason says he just knew that I was the guy from that moment. It took a little bit more convincing for me because I had plans of my own, and God had to reconstruct my brain according to His will.

We met Collin Stoddard (piano/vocals) through an intern who was working for our management. We heard him play, and we all sang together—it went from there. It was so weird because all three of us had different plans. Jason, even when he thought about doing the group before, was like, “I don’t think I want to do this.” He, too, had to let God do some work on it before he finally said yes to it. We haven’t had to shove any doors open; it’s just happened. It’s fallen at our feet, so it’s been clear that God has been in control of this—all we’ve had to do is trust Him.

You feel as though you’re called to minister to the church. How did the band come to that decision?
We were working and serving the church before. We’re a part of the church; we’re a part of the body of Christ. When God’s glory is revealed through His church, the body of Christ, people will be drawn to Him in faith, and we want to reach and impact that community.

It’s not that 33 Miles is single-handedly reaching a lost world—it’s through the encouragement of the church and a body of believers as a whole. We’re part of the church, and the people we’re going to minister to are the ones who will have that much impact on the community.

Is there an overall message you want to convey through your music?
Our message is very simple: Just trust Christ. Bottom line. That’s it. The very foundation of Christianity is faith in Christ. We live in a world where we get so bogged down with things that we need or things that we want. We get sidetracked by good and bad things, when really our eyes need to be fixed on Christ. So our message is simple: Trust and hold on to faith in Christ.

What’s the meaning of your name, 33 Miles?
33 Miles is a combination of the 33 years that Jesus lived and the miles representing the journey and the legacy of Christ. It gets to me that His ministry was really only three years and how with just three years Jesus has completely changed eternity. We look at that as a challenge to ourselves, and we hope other people will be like, What are we going to do with the miles that God gives us? How will we make the most of every opportunity to be obedient to the call of God and to His Word?

How does living for God play out in your life individually and in the band?
The more I deepen my maturity in His Word, I start to realize that I strive for things that are worthless next to Christ, and the only thing that remains is the Living Word. It challenges me to keep my life hidden in Christ. The same thing with 33 Miles—if we’re just a music group, we’re wasting your time and ours. But if we go out and challenge people to live for Christ and if our ministry is based on the Word of God, then that kind of ministry will cause fruit that will remain forever.

You bring songs to life through your harmonies. Are there ever days when you feel as though you’re all out of sync?
If that happens it’s usually when we’re not getting a lot of sleep and our voices are tired. There are a lot of times where we’ve done concerts, and we just say, “God, Your grace is sufficient in our weaknesses.” And some of those have been our best concerts!

Tell us a little bit about your work with Food for the Hungry.
We partnered with them to try to promote people to sponsor a child for $20 a month. Food for the Hungry will provide food, clothing, water, education and will present the Gospel to these children. It’s hard to get away and go on a missions trip for us. So this is a neat way that we can provide a way for the church or whoever to go on missions without having to leave town.

I talked to folks last night who’ve been sponsoring a child since the child was 3 years old all the way through college. They stay in contact [with their sponsored child], and they feel like the child is one of their own now. It’s a neat way to help these kids not only hear about the Gospel but also to experience the love of Christ.

If you weren’t doing music, what would you do?
We actually hosted a TV show the other day where we got to act like Ryan Seacrest. So either that or working at Starbucks.

33 Miles’ Favorites
Summer Outdoors Activity
Chris: running and going to the beach
Jason: running
Collin: riding my horses

A Good Day Off
Chris: hanging out with my wife and playing guitar
Jason: hanging out with my wife and boys
Collin: taking my truck to the car wash