Bluetree originated in Christian Fellowship Church in
Belfast in 2004. Bluetree originally consisted of five members, with Pete Kernoghan joining later. While the band was travelling on a missions trip to
Pattaya southeast of
Bangkok, Thailand, they were inspired to write a song, "God of this City". Band members said that the song came from divine inspiration when the band was playing in a bar. The song refers to the impoverished and desperate conditions the band witnessed during their trip. As an independent band, they recorded their debut album,
Greater Things, in
Dublin, Ireland at
Windmill Lane Studios (
U2's preferred studio). In May 2009 the band launched a charity "Stand Out International" which indirectly rescues children from the sex industry; they also had their first album,
God of This City, released in North America. In 2013, the charity was relaunched in the US with the name Bluetree Worship, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit. Bluetree was nominated for a
Dove Award in 2009 for "God of This City". Their second studio album
Kingdom began production in Parr Street Studios which is in
Liverpool, England in April 2011, and was digitally released on 8 May 2012 with a small-scale US CD release in June. In 2013, two live projects were released. The first was recorded in 2010 in between their first two studio albums; all funds raised went to missions and a trip to
Cambodia with
Ratanak International in November 2013. The second was recorded at the Super Summer camp in June 2013 and features guest and fellow Nathan Jess, who is also from
Northern Ireland. In 2014, Bluetree's music with
Integrity Media was released; they had publishing and recording contracts with Integrity at the time. The first album of the deal was recorded in May 2014 with production by Michael Rossback. Bluetree's lead singer and founder, Aaron Boyd, regularly leads worship at his home church, Christian Fellowship Church in Belfast. Bluetree toured with American Christian rock band
2nd Mile. In September 2017, Aaron Boyd discontinued the Bluetree moniker and he still tours as a solo artist. ==Members==