Hero (then called DBJ) was formed in Alton, IL in late 2004.  At that time the group consisted of Dan Brown Jr. on guitar and his childhood friend Anthony (dirty) Kaid on drums.  Together they crafted the group's first CD, The Awakening.  This first effort consisted of a disc full of instrumental guitar work that was written and produced by Dan Brown Jr. Dan, then moved to Creve Couer in 2005 and as the result of a local craigslist ad, picked up bassist Dustin Abell, forming a lasting partnership and friendship.  They worked together to release Dan's next CD, Carry Me Home.  This was an acoustic rock CD and provided some of Dan's most potent and hardhitting lyrics to date.  During this time played quite a few major shows, opening for Jeremy Camp, Red, Skillet amonst others. Dan then moved up to Chicago and the group went on hiatus.  While there he recorded, produced and engineered his entire third album, Hope is on the Way, in his upstairs coat closet.  You would never know listening to the CD that it was recorded in a room that measured approx 5ft x 7ft. A chance message from Dustin's wife to Dan and his wife reunited the friends and with Anthony in tow, they started driving up to Chicago from St. Louis on a regular basis for rehearsals.  The group started gigging around the Chicago area making a name for themselves playing such awesome gigs as the Nite Lite and Trinity Church. -NEXT-