Downhere started at Briercrest Bible College in Saskatchewan. Mark Martel and Jason Germain formed the band while rooming together. They both wrote, sang and played gutar. Their first regular gig was nursing home. The two of them would visit the elderly and play music as part of an extra curricular ministry. The band came together when bassist Tyson Manning and drummer Jeremy Thiessen joined. 

Downhere released their first album in Canada on Slingshot Records in 1999. Meanwhile they were also performing in festivals around the country, winning Western Canadian Music Award, Outstanding Festival Act of the Year in 2000. The following year Downhere was signed by a major label, Word Records. Their self-titled album was re-done with their new bassist Glenn Lavender. In 2002 Downhere cleaned up in a number of awards ceremonies, winning the Covenant Award for Rock Album and Rock Song of the Year, and the Juno Award for Gospel Album of the Year. Their second album So Much For Substitutes was released in 2003 once again winning them the Covenant Awards for Rock Song and Album of the Year, as well as the American GMA Award for Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year. In 2004 they made a DVD called While The World Is Asleep.

By 2006 they left Word and signed with Centricity Records and released the album Wide-Eyed And Mistifyed. You guessed it, they won the Rock Song and Album of the Year at the Covenant Awards, as well as Recorded Song of the Year for A Better Way. That album also took home the Juno for Gospel Song of the Year. In 2007 Downhear re-recorded some of their most popular songs acoustically in an album called Wide-Eyed And Simplified. That was followed by a full album of demo tracks called Thunder and Lighting. They also contributed two Christmas songs to the compilation album Bethlehem Skyline. Their album, Ending is Beginning was released on September 23, 2008.

How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas was released in 2009. Their next major release, On the Altar of Love is set for August 23, 2011.