Chris Rice's songwriting career began in the mid-'80s, a full decade before he became the 1995 Christian Songwriter of the Year (according to American Songwriter magazine) after writing Kim Boyce's "By Faith" (the single was proclaimed Song of the Year). Thanks in part to his success at songwriting, he became the first artist signed to Michael W. Smith's Rocketown Records in 1996. He recorded Deep Enough to Dream for a September 1997 release. Several albums followed throughout the remainder of the '90s and early 2000s, including Past the Edges (1998), Smell the Color 9 (2000), the instrumental The Living Room Sessions, Run the Earth, Watch the Sky, and Amusing (2005). ~ John Bush