MercyMe was formed in 1994 by vocalist Bart Millard, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, and keyboardist Jim Bryson. Bassist Nathan Cochran joined the band in 1997, with drummer Robby Shaffer joining the following year. In October 1999, they issued their fifth self-released album, "The Worship Project". The album proved successful, selling over 60,000 copies within a year, but the difficulty of selling albums directly, in addition to having to book and manage for themselves, led the band to pursue a contract with a record label. Millard was directed by a friend to contact Jeff Moseley, who had connections in the Christian music industry, for advice. After being contacted by Millard, Moseley expressed interest in the band, and within a week MercyMe was officially signed to INO Records, a new record label Moseley was helming. Moseley introduced the band to Pete Kipley, who would produce the album. Although Kipley had been involved on some minor projects like radio mixes, "Almost There" was his first major project. Millard called Kipley an "amazing guy" and credited him with improving the band's songwriting skills and teaching them about the music industry.