"Cain's Blood", co-written by country-pop artist Michael Johnson and former Poco member Jack Sundrud, was issued as the lead single in early 1995. It reached a peak of No. 26 on the "Billboard" country music charts and No. 14 on the "RPM" country charts in Canada. The song also had a music video filmed at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, which was put into medium rotation on CMT. On the success of the single, the group's self-titled debut album was issued in May 1995. Four sides were cut for the album in September 1994, one of which was "Cain's Blood", and the rest of the album was then recorded between January and March 1995. Buddy Cannon, who produced the album with Shell, noted that he did not attempt to change the "vocal blend" present on the group's demo tape, and thus spent more time focusing on the musical arrangements and song selection. He also noted that the use of four-part vocal harmony made it more difficult to find suitable songs, compared to other country music groups where the vocal harmony is not as prominent. Polydor promoted the group via a showcase in Marina del Rey, California in which they, along with then-labelmates Chely Wright and Shane Sutton, performed before 80 radio representatives and 100 representatives of PolyGram Distribution. Three more singles were issued from "4 Runner": "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive", "Home Alone", and "Ripples". While none of these reached Top 40 on the U.S. country music charts, "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive" made No. 18 on the "RPM" Country Tracks charts in Canada.