Cryar's debut,
Keep No Secrets, was released in 1984, and its singles "Holy Fire" and "Carried Away" received moderate airplay on Christian radio; but it was his 1986 album,
Fuel on the Fire, featuring the chart-topping contemporary Christian single (also nominated for a
Dove Award for best video), "Pray in the U.S.A.", that began his road to success. Collaborating with producer
Roy Salmond and composers
Ty Tabor and
Doug Pinnick (later of
King's X fame) and well-regarded
CCM session player,
John Andrew Schreiner,
Fuel on the Fire contains some "foot-tapping ditties" and "tuneful ballads" that make up Mr. Cryar's vocal performance. In the 1980s, Cryar toured with big names in the CCM industry, such as
Petra and
DeGarmo and Key, promoting
Fuel on the Fire and his 1989 follow up
Like A River to receptive high school and college-age audiences. Cryar's level of recognition early on in his career paved the way for his fourth album,
Kingdom Upside Down (1990), to reach No. 27 on the
Billboard Christian charts, despite its criticism as a "pleasantly forgettable album", and for its single, "Father", to hit number one on the Christian radio charts. Additionally in the 1990s, he had a No. 1 Christian radio hit with "If I Never See a Miracle" from 1995's
Love Over Gold, and the single, "What Sin?" from the same album had its own moderate success on Christian radio. From 2005 - 2007, Cryar was CEO of Brett Manning's Singing Success, Inc. He currently resides in Nashville, TN with his wife and their seven children. Two of his children, daughters Callie and Phoebe, are also musicians. They play instruments and sing in the band
The Vespers. ==References==