It was the 1990s and Christian Music exploded. There were tons of independent Christian labels representing Christian bands of a variety of styles. Label founder and President, Matthew Eldridge, was a young man who started out as a solo artist playing coffeehouses and youth groups before joining some Christian bands, playing a whole heap of shows, making it onto radio and in bookstores and in festivals, sharing the stage with some of the greatest talent Christian music had to offer at the time. There was a new outpour of the Holy Spirit, much like the Jesus Movement of the 1970's. Christian music was reaching the airwaves and the world--but there was still a barrier between worship, CCM, and Christian radio.
God gave Matthew a dream of playing Christian rock shows with the band but then taking the music down into worship half way through the set in a 90's rock style, and inviting the congregation into a sing along, praising the King, followed by an invitation to accept Jesus. The band did just that and saw a number of people receive Jesus at each show. As the band grew in popularity, labels would tell Matthew, "You guys rock, but you're a ministry. We're a business, and we don't know how to market what you do," and "You're really good, but we can't market rock worship on Christian radio." (This was the days before Christian radio played people like Chris Tomlin and David Crowder.) After a band split, Matthew teamed up with Daystar Radio Manager, Scott Inman, and the two gave birth to Rock-It TV, a Christian rock television show that first started locally and eventually was picked up by TBN's JC-TV. The show interviewed the top Christian rock and rap bands and intermingled it with live concert footage and music videos.
Matthew found himself moving to Atlanta to serve as a worship leader. The economy would collapse, so Eldridge found himself getting an agent and working in film and television as an actor, musician, guitarist, songwriter, singer, double, and stand-in. His guitar and vocal work includes shows like Pitch Perfect 3, The Vampire Diaries, American Soul, A Question of Faith, Baker and the Beauty, and a number of others. He was the double and stand-in for Finnick in the Hunger Games Trilogy and Four in the Divergent Series. He flew the Gemini 8 in the film, First Man. He was a stand-in and double for many famous actors including Adam Sandler, Jason Bateman, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson, Sam Claflin, Theo James, Ed Helms, Hayden Christiansen, Mel Gibson, and many more. He once saved Jennifer Lawrence's life (true story- her words!)
In 2019, Matthew and his wife gave birth to a son who had three open-heart surgeries. It was this event that convinced Matthew to step out of the film industry and work for a non-profit, taking care of families much like his own. This allowed him to pursue music again on the side--releasing songs that would earn him three Native American Music Award Nominations, an Emerald Coast Film Festival Award, several top 10 national song releases via PlayMPE, and offering him the opportunity to lead worship again. Covid changed the musical climate and guitar sales skyrocketed. People longed for guitar-driven live music and live shows again. Bands like We The Kingdom and Zach Williams came onto the scene, giving Matthew the nudge to start a label with the musical styles he loves all for the glory of God.
Only, this label would be different. Being an independent label means creative control. Whereas before, the labels told Eldridge it was about business and marketing for radio, Eldridge is choosing to make it about the very reason he wanted to do Christian music in the first place--to be about the message. It's about ministry. It's about letting a song resonate with listeners, whether the listener is saved or not-- the end goal is to draw the listener closer to Jesus through the songs Outpour Records delivers.