Their first guitarist, Andrew Morrison, decided to leave the band shortly before they signed with BEC records.

[3][4] The Band changed their name to "Kutless" in October 2001,[5] before releasing their first three-track EP followed up by their full-length album in 2002 on BEC Recordings.

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (NRSV).

[citation needed] Kutless had their touring debut between February and April 2003 when they opened up for Audio Adrenaline and MercyMe.

That year, Kutless was scheduled to perform at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece but could not make it because the airline canceled their flight.

[citation needed] In 2005, Kutless played a Katrina Benefit Relief Concert in Portland, Oregon.

They were replaced with bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter and drummer Jeff Gilbert,[8] who both came from the recently broken-up Christian rock band Seven Places.

[citation needed] This left Jon Micah Sumrall as the only remaining original member, although James Mead had joined before the first album.

[citation needed] The band made a headline appearance at the "Ultimate Event" Christian concert at Alton Towers in the United Kingdom during May 2009.

The tour went to over 20 cities across the U.S. and included Fireflight, Rhett Walker Band, Hyland, and Justin McRoberts.

[17] In December 2012 Kutless teamed up with Nick Hall to headline Pulse's Christmas tour, The Reason.

[18] In May 2013 Kutless posted on social media that bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter had decided to leave the band.

[citation needed] A few months after, long time guitarist Nick DePartee also left the band to go in a new direction, in his family life, artistically and in music.

[22] On September 30 of that year, Kutless released a single, "Words of Fire", which showed a return to their hard rock roots.