Pray For Rain started out as the Joel Hanson Band in 1989 at Camp Shamineau - a Minnesota Christian youth camp. Brown Bannister would soon sign them to Vireo Records when the band was known as Inside Out. Then Patrick Andrew came up with the name "Pray For Rain" from a poem.
In 1992, to avoid both being confused with and a lawsuit with an already existing instrumental band who primarily made soundtrack music they settled on the name PFR.